RWBY- Outcasts and Outlaws V1
by Halogod97
Summary: Connor has a tragic, tainted past that he's forced to face every day. The voice in his head, that of a person who shares his body, reminds him of it every day. After being seperated from his mentor, he is invited to Beacon and tries to make a go of it, but his past catches up to him, enemies he didn't even know he had coming for his life.
1. Chapter 1- Arrival at Beacon

Outcasts and Outlaws Chapter 1-

Arriving at Beacon.

I first starting writing this story in 2014, three years ago. I uploaded the first six chapters under a different profile, but the password is long lost. At the moment, I'm 5 volumes in and the story has come a long way, so I've decided to start posting the chapters again. This is a story set in my version of the world of RWBY, following Connor as he shares his body with Kane and tries to get along with everyone in Beacon, but all does not stay happy for very long when his past comes looking for him. Anyway, I'll be uploading multiple of these a day since I have about to a hundred to upload before I'm caught up to where I'm currently at, so enjoy!

' _We both know this is a bad idea'_

Connor contemplated Kane's words as he looked out the airship window, down on to Beacon, which sat on the horizon.

He looked down at himself. His attire (Consisting of a white vest under an open, chequered red jacket, dark blue jeans and canvas shoes.) had been what he'd changed into after the heist, in order to stay hidden from the authorities.

'Shut up Kane, I know what I'm doing'

At least he hoped so. Hell, it didn't matter anyway. If something were to go wrong he'd just pack his bags and move on, just like all the other times.

 _'It'll matter when you kill someone.'_

Connor hated this part of Kane. Not only would Kane be able to read his mind at will but he'd judge those thoughts too and constantly remind Connor what he was and why he could never stay in one place for too long.

Connor took a deep breath, made sure he wasn't going to get angry and then replied.

'You mean when you kill someone.'

After that remark, they both stay silent for a moment, and then Kane speaks again.

' _Only if you lose control, and then it'll be your fault.'_

Upon hearing that, Connor scowled and severed the connection. At least he had that on his side. If he doesn't like what Kane's saying then he can hang up at any time. He as in control.

He really hoped that he didn't lose that control because deep down he knew Kane was right. Losing control would mean the death of someone, and it would be Connor's fault.

Glynda Goodwitch stood on the other side of the airship, watching the teenager arguing with his so called 'spirit'. What was Ozpin thinking? This boy was obviously unhinged and dangerous. If there was even the slightest chance that this kid could end up killing another student…

Glynda strolled over to his side of the airship and stood beside him, staring out of the window just as he was. When it seemed that he had calmed down from his argument, she spoke to him.

'We should be arriving at Beacon shortly.'

Connor didn't respond. He simply continued to stare out of the window, thinking about the things Kane said.

'Are you alright?'

He was surprised that Goodwitch actually cared. He'd spent his whole life getting used to the fact that people didn't care about him at all, except for Mars, and now this woman who he'd only just met was showing concern for him.

'Kane's being an asshole.'

'When we land, Ozpin will show you to your room and you can rest until classes start tomorrow.' Goodwitch said, ignoring Connor's previous statement.

'Way to change the subject' Connor thought to himself. The female professor was obviously uncomfortable talking about Kane. He knew that the information Ozpin had given her wasn't enough to keep her from being scared of him.

Then he thought back to Mars again, the only person who had ever cared. Not even his own parents cared for him. Mars was the only one who saw Connor as a person. He quickly dismissed these memories. He'd done his mourning, going back into grief would only distract him and that would allow Kane to take control.

For the next half hour, Goodwitch and Connor stood by the window as the airship flew closer and closer to their destination, Beacon, and eventually landing. As they stepped out of the airship, Ozpin was waiting there just as Goodwitch had predicted.

'Welcome to Beacon Academy, Connor.' He announced.

'It's an honour to be here sir.' Connor replied, giving Ozpin the amount of respect Connor though he deserved.

Ozpin showed no indication that he enjoyed or detested this treatment, instead he turned to Goodwitch.

'Glynda, would you mind if I and Mr. Kodomo continued on our own? He asked. 'We have…private matters to discuss.

It was obvious to both Connor and Goodwitch that he wanted to speak about Kane, not something Connor ever looked forward to.

Goodwitch did not speak her reply, instead she courteously nodded and walked in the opposite direction to that in which Ozpin and Connor set off in.

'How was the flight?' Ozpin queried. Again, surprise as yet another person seemed to care about Connor's wellbeing. Perhaps this academy wouldn't be so bad after all.

Connor answered in a hushed tone, in case anyone was listening in. He'd recently made a decision to be careful of that, as he'd had too many slip ups to count running from the law.

'Kane's doubtful; he thinks I'll end up killing someone.'

Ozpin considered this for a moment and then posed another question.

'What do you think?'

'I'm in control.' Connor replied confidently.

Ozpin happily approved. 'Good, the last thing we need is another incident.'

The put a lot of emphasis on the word incident, as if the academy had already faced its fair share of problems.

By this point in the conversation, they had reached Connor's room. The door had been decorated with a bronze plate with the words 'Connor Komodo' engraved on it.

Ozpin stated 'This will be your room while you are staying with us, I'll leave you to it now. I'm sure you have things to prepare before classes start.

With that Ozpin walked away, leaving Connor to explore his room alone. As he put his hand on the doorknob however, he spotted movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned to his left to see a red haired in a red and black combat skirt sticking out of the door of his own room, obviously curious about her new neighbour. She stuck out a hand and waved at him, and to his own surprise, he smiled back at her. He thought this strange, as he would usually ignore acts of friendship such as that. Something about that girl made him so relaxed. So calm. The thoughts of Kane's doubts fled from his mind.

He quickly realised he had been staring for a little too long and went inside his new room. It was a simple set up, a bed a nightstand and a cupboard where all his belongings had been delivered prior to his arrival.

He slumped down on the bed and began to drift into a deep sleep, to dream of his future at Beacon. Just before he slipped into his slumber he heard Kane mutter something.

' _You won't be able to control me for much longer with that attitude.'_

End of chapter one.


	2. Chapter 2- Who Needs Friends?

Outcasts and Outlaws Chapter 2-

Who Needs Friends?

 **Just like I said, I'm uploading multiple chapters today. Had to go through and edit all the mistakes, as I type way too fast to notice them on the first go through, but I think I got them all. This chapter will be a bit longer than the first, and I've also added in a custom anime style opening I designed for this story. Anyway, this chapter will show Connor interacting with some of RWBY's main characters. Enjoy!**

Music: RWBY OP 1

(Music starts, shows Connor in a red shirt kneeling behind a tall figure in a green cloak in front of him) (Connor raises his hand, a depressed look in his eye)

THEY SEE YOU AS SMALL AND HELPLESS!

(The figure's green cloak flaps in the wind)

THEY SEE YOU AS JUST A CHILD!

(Dark clouds start to form in Connor's eye, it being zoomed in on until he evaporated into dark clouds)

SURPRISE WHEN THEY FIND OUT THAT A WARRIOR WILL SOON RUN WILD!

[OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS]

PREPARE FOR YOUR GREATEST MOMENT!

(Shows Ruby in a training room with her scythe)

PREPARE FOR YOUR FINEST HOUR!

(Shows Connor standing in a tree wearing a long black coat)

THE DREAM THAT YOU'VE ALWAYS DREAMED

(Shows Yang on her bike)

IS SUDDENLY ABOUT TO FLOWER!

(Shows a horde of Grimm advancing)

WE ARE LIGHTNING!

(Shows Damien with Brook standing on one side of him, a shadowy figure on the other)

STRAYING FROM THE THUNDER!

(Connor looks behind him as a Grimm drops down and charges, but slashes past it)

MIRACLES OF ANCIENT WONDER!

(Shows Connor, Yang and Ruby charge in)

THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE WAITED FOR!

(Shows Connor standing in front of Beacon looking apprehensive)

THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE OPEN UP THE DOOR.

(Connor starts to fall forward)

I DON'T WANNA HEAR YOUR ABSOLUTION!

(Ozpin catches him and pulls him back up, then Team JNPR come to stand with him)

HOPE YOUR'E READY FOR A REVOLUTION!

(Shows Ozpin walking away from Connor with his Kane over his shoulder)

WELCOME TO A WORLD OF NEW SOLUTIONS!

(Zooms in on Ozpin's eye as a gold gear spins around in it)

WELCOME TO A WORLD OF BLOODY EVOLUTION!

(Shows Ruby, then Yang, then Ozpin, then a shadowy figure)

IN TIME, YOUR HEART WILL OPEN MINDS!

(Connor steps through the shadowy figure and draws his arm blades)

A STORY WILL BE TOLD!

(He does an epic pose)

AND VICTORY IS IN A SIMPLE SOUL!

[END]

Connor awoke sharply to the feeling of sunlight on his skin. He looked to his right to see light pouring through the window as he'd forgotten to close the curtains the night before.

 _"Talk about a rude awakening."_ Kane lightly joked. He sounded in a better mood today, probably looking forward to kicking some ass in the sparring matches.

Connor slowly turned his head back around, still drowsy from his sleep cut short, and noticed something different in the room.

A small wooden box with golden decorations and a sturdy lock sat on the dresser on the opposite side of the room. Connor hadn't seen it there before. He wondered if someone had brought it in while he had been sleeping.

"What do you think is in it, Kane?" Connor asked, taking advantage of Kane's good mood.

 _"It's just the right size for your weapon."_ Kane replied.

Connor picked up the box and took a closer look at the decorations, and then noticed that it had a small golden lock.

"It's locked; we're going to need a key." Connor bluntly stated.

 _"You could always just punch through it."_ Kane suggested.

Connor contemplated this as he set the box back down on the dresser, being careful not to rattle its contents.

"It's such a fine box. It'd be a shame to just smash it open." Connor commented, trying not to let Kane's side of him influence this decision. "Besides, we'll probably be given a key later."

 _"Just punch it."_ Kane commanded, growing impatient and starting to lose his good mood.

Connor sighed and drew back his hand, curling it into a fist as he did so. Just as he was about to throw the punch, he heard a knock on his door, but desperate to see what was inside the box, punched it anyway.

Ruby Rose stood outside the door in her school uniform. On her way to class she had decided to pop in and pay her new neighbour a visit. She looked up at the name plate. 'Connor Hikari-Kodomo.' "A strange last name," she thought, "and why isn't this kid part of a team like the rest of us? Why put him in a room by himself?"

She thought back Yang's words on the matter. Telling her to stay away from this stranger, as he might be a weirdo. Ruby wasn't sure, but she thought Yang meant he'd turn out to be a pervert or something, which was completely unjustified. He'd only smiled at her.

She raised her hand up and knocked on the door and then heard a bang from inside. Worried that the occupant might be hurt, she opened the door and looked inside.

Connor heard the door creaking open and turned his head to the left, his hand still in the remains of the box. Standing in the doorway was he had seen the day before. The one who had been wearing the red combat skirt. The one who'd waved at him.

He noticed she was staring at his hand that was still in the box, a curious expression on her face. He looked at his fist and realised that in his efforts to smash the box open, he had cut the knuckles of his hand on the shards of wood that had resultantly been created, and blood was know flowing freely from them.

"Are you ok?" She asked, her voice shaking a little.

"I'm fine," Connor replied, "It was Kane's idea."

"Who's Kane?" Asked the redhead, voice still shaking.

Connor damned his loose lips.

 _"Well, the cat's out of the bag now."_ Kane said.

Not just yet, thought Connor.

"He's no-one." Connor stated and then asked, "Who are you?"

At this act of attempted friendship, the girl seemed to drop her guard and become surprisingly more cheerful.

"I'm Ruby!" She announced. "What's your name?"

Connor hesitated a moment before answering, taking his metal gauntlets out of the box, and then answered.

"I'm Connor Hikaru-Kodomo."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot I saw the nameplate outside the door." Ruby remembered as Connor slipped his gauntlets onto his lower arms. 'Are those your weapons?'

Connor didn't reply in words, instead he flicked his wrists, causing sharp blades to extend from each gauntlet, and then he simply looked at Ruby awaiting her response.

He gasped in shock when he saw that Ruby was standing with a look of amazement on her face. He'd never seen someone so fascinated by his blades before.

Connor smiled and said, "You like them?"

Ruby, still in her daze of amazement replied, "They're amazing! Where did you get them?!"

"They're just some old blades."

Ruby dashed over to him in a flash of red petals and began to prod and inspect the blades.

"They can conceal themselves within your gauntlets and they're as sharp as needles!" She exclaimed, and then poked a tip of one of the blades, after which she dashed back to the other side of the room, holding her now bleeding index finger in her hand.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!"

Connor smirked at this. It was the first time he'd found something funny in a long time, something about this girl brought out his lighter side. He hadn't previously known he'd had one.

His smile disappeared when a taller girl with flowing blonde hair stopped in the doorway on her way past, and seeing Ruby with even a tiny wound seemed to set her off.

"Rubes? Did this guy hurt you?!" She yelled, on the edge of fury.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Ruby replied frantically. "He wasn't hurting me, it was an accident!"

The new girl doubted that and stepped forward to get a better look at Connor.

She stared at him for a good few seconds before giving up and introducing herself.

"I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister."

Connor took a second to think about, deducing that it explained the protective behaviour, and then replied.

"I see." He replied calmly.

Yang stepped closer to Connor again and looked right into his eyes, once again very serious.

"You lay a finger on Ruby, you won't be seeing anything." She warned.

She then turned around and walked out of the room, grabbing Ruby on the way, who managed to quickly say a goodbye.

Connor sighed and started towards the door, thinking about Yang being an overprotective sister. In the middle of his daydream, he bumped into someone on his way out of the door and whoever it was dropped an entire case of dust to the ground causing the bottles inside to smash.

"You oaf!"

Connor snapped out of his daydream and looked at the person now standing in front of him, a white haired girl in a white combat skirt and high heels.

"How can you fight in those?" He asked whilst still looking at the heels.

"Don't change the subject!" The girl yelled angrily. "Look at what you've done!"

Connor looked down at the mess at his feet. Dust of all colours spreading across the floor. He looked back up at the girl and recognized her instantly, Weiss Schnee. He decided to take the opportunity to have a little bit of fun.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Connor joked.

With this, the Schnee girl grew even angrier. "You don't know who I am?! I am Weiss Schnee! Heir of the Schnee Company!" She shouted furiously.

"The same company known for its questionable business partners."

Both Weiss and Connor looked behind them to see a girl in black clothing walking towards them.

"Seriously, Blake?' You're going to start that again?!" Weiss screamed, shattering Connor's eardrum beyond repair.

Blake ignored Weiss' screams and continued walking, only saying, "We're going to be late for class." As she walked past, this seemed to touch a nerve in Weiss.

She quickly turned and walked away, telling Connor to clean up the mess as she went.

Connor looked down at the dust pile and sighed. Kane chipped in, _"You heard the lady."_ Connor responded by cutting off Kane and continued on his way to his class. At this rate he'd be the last one in.

"Jaune, wait!"

Connor turned around thinking "What now?", and saw a guy in chainmail armour running down the hall, trying to get to class on time, followed by an equally fast girl in Spartan armour, whom Connor also recognized.

"Jaune, you're going to trip!"

Right on cue, Jaune fell over and landed right at Connor's feet, who picked up Jaune by the scruff of his shirt and stood him up.

"Umm… thanks. Who are you?" Jaune asked nervously.

"I'm-" Connor started to say before having his sentence finished by the girl in Spartan armour.

"You're Connor Kodomo, correct?" She asked as she came to a stop, having caught up with Jaune. "I saw you're name on the door." She continued, "I'm Pyrhaa Nikos." And she stuck out her which Connor took hold of and shook firmly, then Pyrhaa continued on. "I could have sworn I've heard that name somewhere before."

"Great," Connor thought, "Looks like my past has gotten my some unwanted attention."

 _"Ignore her; she's not worth the time."_ Kane suggested, and Connor agreed, so he stayed silent.

After a minute of complete silence, Jaune spoke up. "Pyrhaa, we should be getting to class."

Pyrhaa nodded and walked past Connor towards the classrooms. Jaune turned to follow her, but just before he did he spoke to Connor.

"My name's Jaune, by the way."

Then Connor said something that shook Jaune to his very bones, told a secret that only he and Pyrhaa knew of.

"Can't fool me with faked documents."

Jaune, too scared to speak, simply ran in the other direction to tell Pyrhaa.

 _"Jaundice Arc."_ Kane explained, _"He got into beacon with faked documents. In actuality he has no combat skills or training whatsoever."_

Connor sighed wearily. Not only did someone maybe know who he was, but he was already doing a terrible job of making friends.

 _"Who needs friends?"_ He said to Kane, not noticing the ginger haired girl in pink armour standing beside him.

"That's a mean thing to say."

Connor acted on instinct, turning around lightning fast, whipping out his blades as he went and holding them up in front of his face.

The ginger girl didn't seem scared at all. Instead she smiled and cheerily stated, "What fun is life without friends?"

Upon hearing this, Connor lowered his guard, but didn't put away his blades and responded, "I've gotten along just fine without them so far."

Nora frowned and moved a little closer to Connor. "That's sad," she said sounding upset, "Everybody needs at least one friend."

Before Connor could tell her otherwise, a black haired boy in a dark green shirt stepped out of the doorway opposite ruby's room. Connor noticed that the boy had a steak of pink in his hair.

"That's my friend!" Nora exclaimed excitedly. "Ren!" She shouted as ran towards him, stopping an inch away from his face and glared up into his eyes.

"Nora, what are you doing?" Ren asked, already sounding exhausted.

"I was just talking to the new guy." Nora answered, pointing to Connor whilst bouncing up and down on her heels.

Ren looked over at Connor, giving him a look as if to say, "Sorry for the trouble." And then spoke to Nora again.

"Nora, leave the new kid be. We need to be getting to class."

A look of shock overcame Nora's face. "Oh my god, you're right! We're gonna be late!" She screamed as she grabbed Ren's hand and ran down the hallway with him, knocking over Connor as she went.

"There are some weird people in this school." Connor said to himself before getting up. He heard footsteps and looked to his left to see Professor Ozpin walking towards him holding a coffee mug.

"I see you've met teams RWBY and JNPR. Quite the characters, aren't they?" Ozpin said.

Connor replied wearily, "You got that right. How do you expect me to fit in with these people?"

Ozpin replied quickly and sharply, but not harshly. "Give it time and I'm sure they'll grow on you. Anyways, shouldn't you be getting to your first class?"

Connor laughed, "I'd be there by now if not for all the distractions." Connor had surprised himself yet again. That was the first time he'd laughed for years.

Ozpin shared in Connor's short laughter. "I wouldn't worry too much. You've only got one class to attend today at any rate, so you'll have plenty of time to make friends."

Ozpin took a sip of coffee from his thermal mug and continued, "Well, I must be going, I have much to do today." With that, he walked down the corridor back to his office.

 _"Time to make friends?"_ Kane said to Connor. _"He's reading you all wrong."_

Connor countered Kane's statement. "I don't know. There is one person I might be able to get along with."

 _"You mean that Ruby girl?"_ Kane asked in disbelief, _"Don't tell me-"_

"Shut up."

 _"Whatever,"_ Kane said, _"You always were a bit of a hopeless romantic. Just make sure you remember why that can't be."_

With that thought in his mind, Connor started on his way to his first class, anxiously anticipating what awaited him at Beacon.


	3. Chapter 3- Grimm Memories

Outcasts and Outlaws

Chapter 3

Grimm Memories

 **Uploading the first new chapter early today. This one has a little bit of action in it, and shows the first little flashback of Connor's past. Anyway, enjoy!**

Music: RWBY OP 1

Music starts, shows Connor in a red shirt kneeling behind a tall figure in a green cloak in front of him) (Connor raises his hand, a depressed look in his eye)

THEY SEE YOU AS SMALL AND HELPLESS!

(The figure's green cloak flaps in the wind)

THEY SEE YOU AS JUST A CHILD!

(Dark clouds start to form in Connor's eye, it being zoomed in on until he evaporated into dark clouds)

SURPRISE WHEN THEY FIND OUT THAT A WARRIOR WILL SOON RUN WILD!

[OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS]

PREPARE FOR YOUR GREATEST MOMENT!

(Shows Ruby in a training room with her scythe)

PREPARE FOR YOUR FINEST HOUR!

(Shows Connor standing in a tree wearing a long black coat)

THE DREAM THAT YOU'VE ALWAYS DREAMED

(Shows Yang on her bike)

IS SUDDENLY ABOUT TO FLOWER!

(Shows a horde of Grimm advancing)

WE ARE LIGHTNING!

(Shows Damien with Brook standing on one side of him, a shadowy figure on the other)

STRAYING FROM THE THUNDER!

(Connor looks behind him as a Grimm drops down and charges, but slashes past it)

MIRACLES OF ANCIENT WONDER!

(Shows Connor, Yang and Ruby charge in)

THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE WAITED FOR!

(Shows Connor standing in front of Beacon looking apprehensive)

THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE OPEN UP THE DOOR.

(Connor starts to fall forward)

I DON'T WANNA HEAR YOUR ABSOLUTION!

(Ozpin catches him and pulls him back up, then Team JNPR come to stand with him)

HOPE YOUR'E READY FOR A REVOLUTION!

(Shows Ozpin walking away from Connor with his Kane over his shoulder)

WELCOME TO A WORLD OF NEW SOLUTIONS!

(Zooms in on Ozpin's eye as a gold gear spins around in it)

WELCOME TO A WORLD OF BLOODY EVOLUTION!

(Shows Ruby, then Yang, then Ozpin, then a shadowy figure)

IN TIME, YOUR HEART WILL OPEN MINDS!

(Connor steps through the shadowy figure and draws his arm blades)

A STORY WILL BE TOLD!

(He does an epic pose)

AND VICTORY IS IN A SIMPLE SOUL!

[END]

Teams RWBY and JNPR were both sat in the seating area of Professor Ports classroom, anxiously waiting for Port to enter and start lecturing the class on his many adventures around the world of Remnant, which despite the flare he added, were found quite boring by the student body.

As they waited, Ruby's thoughts drifted to Connor. The way he'd punched through that box just to get to his weapons and how he seemed reluctant to reveal the identity of Kane.

Still, he seemed like an okay guy. He was nice enough to let her inspect his blades.

Ruby looked left to her sister, Yang, and asked, "What did you think of Connor?"

"What, you mean that guy that poked you with blades?" Yang replied, her anger once again rising.

"I told you, I poked his blade! Not the other way around!" Ruby replied frantically.

"I don't trust him, he was too quiet." Yang said.

Weiss poked her head from her notes and asked, "Who's this Connor you two are talking about?"

Ruby replied excitedly, "He's the new guy, he moved in just down the hall from us."

Weiss' face became very stern as she asked, "Would this new guy happen to wear big metal gauntlets on his arms?"

Switching the topic to that of weapons caused Ruby to instantly become excited again.

"Yeah, they're so cool! He just flicked his wrist and blades popped out of them, and they were-"

"That idiot bumped into me on the way over here!" Weiss interrupted, "He made me drop all of my most valuable and expensive dust crystals!" She put a lot of emphasis on the word expensive, reminding everyone that she came from a rich family.

"I'm sure it was an accident." Ruby said, trying to get Connor out of the way of Weiss' wrath.

"Accident or not, that dust was almost priceless!"

Ruby sighed and gave up trying to convince Weiss of Connor's innocence and instead turned to Blake for an opinion.

"What did you think of him, Blake?"

Blake, without even looking up from the book she was reading, replied, "He didn't speak to me, but I got the feeling he was hiding something."

"You'd know all about that wouldn't you kitty cat?" Yang joked, causing Blake's cat ears to shake a little under her bow.

On the other side of the seating area, the members of team JNPR were having a similar conversation.

"He didn't seem like a bad guy." Ren said.

"He wasn't exactly friendly when I mentioned that I recognised his name." Pyrhaa noted.

"Yeah, and he also knew about that thing…" Jaune added before nervously trailing off.

"What thing?" Ren asked curiously.

"It's nothing." Pyrhaa defended Jaune while he hung his head to avoid looking at Ren.

Ren sighed and looked at Nora. "What do you think of him, Nora? You're being strangely quiet." He asked, worried about Nora's abnormal behaviour, she was normally so cheerful.

"I think he just needs a friend. He said that he's never had one." Nora replied, sounding very upset and staring into space.

All the members of Teams RWBY and JNPR turned their heads in curiosity to the sound of the door opening up revealing the man himself.

"I think they were talking about us." Connor muttered to Kane so no one would hear him.

 _"Probably more so you than me."_ Kane said.

Connor slowly walked up to the seats, taking care not to look directly at anyone. As he passed Team JNPR, he felt a cold shiver run over him, as if they weren't exactly on his side so far. As he passed team RWBY, he couldn't help but glance at Ruby, and she smiled at him. This caused him to blush a little and he moved on.

When he reached a seat he liked the location of, Professor Port came into the room through the open door, his greying moustache clearly groomed.

"Greetings, class!" Port announced as he walked towards his desk in the centre of the classroom. "Welcome to a new year at Beacon! Now, let's get down to business!"

Port turned away from the class ands walked to the board at the back of the room, picking up a tiny remote control along the way. He then pressed a button and turned back to the class, the screen now showing a picture of an enormous snake like Grimm.

"As you all probably know, this is a picture of a King Taijitu, an enormous snake like Grimm. Today, we will be looking into the weakness' of these fascinating but dangerous creatures, and my many adventures with them!"

The moment port mentioned the possibility of him storytelling, the majority of the class switched off.

 _"A King Taijitu…"_ Kane said to Connor, " _Remember the first time you saw one of those?"_

"How could I forget it?" Connor whispered as he slipped into reminiscence.

Many years ago… (Connor: 13 Years of age)

Rain pouring down on all sides. Trees everywhere, the droplets of rain reflecting off of the leaves. A lone bird sat upon a low hanging branch searching for a mate.

The bird immediately scattered as the branch it had been sat on was cut in half by a machete blade and Connor struggled through the bushes. Both his gauntlets were on his arms, one with a blade attached and the other without, as it was in his hand.

Connor continued to trudge forward through the leafy undergrowth, chopping branches and leaves as he went, occasionally raising a leg to step over a tree root.

 _"We shouldn't be doing this."_ Kane told Connor as he continued to chop his way through the jungle.

"It makes no sense to be this close to the temple and not keep going." Connor explained.

" _Mars said he doesn't know what could be guarding it. What if it's something you can't deal with?"_ Kane asked.

"I can deal with anything that comes my way. Plus, Mars doesn't need to know. We can get to the temple, kill the guardian, and take the gemstone with no problems and then go back to camp." Connor replied.

As Connor broke through another branch, it revealed a large clearing in the jungle and a large cave entrance in it.

"This is it!" Connor stated excitedly. "Once we're in there, Kane, I can finally discover my own semblance, and then you can go!"

" _I told you it's not that easy. I can't just leave."_ Kane reminded Connor.

"Whatever." Connor spat as he walked towards the cave, completely unaware of the massive snake slithering around the back of him.

The snake rose up its head, silently stalking Connor, preparing to finish him with one strike. When it was fully reared up, its head reached the tops of some of the smaller trees, making it roughly the same height as a double decker bus and it was just as wide.

Connor felt a shiver run down his spine as he saw an enormous shadow casting over him from behind.

 _"MOVE!"_ Kane shouted at him with urgency.

Thanks to Kane's warning, Connor managed to roll forward just as the snake brought its venomous fangs down into the ground into the ground where Connor had been standing.

Connor turned around as quickly as he could and stood up to see the snake pulling its fangs out of the ground.

"What is this thing?" Connor yelled at Kane, scared out of his skin.

 _"It's a King Taijitu!"_ Kane replied, " _Aim for the head!"_ he advised.

The King Taijitu brought down its head again, Connor rolled backwards and its fangs smashed into the ground.

This time however, the snake was much quicker to react. It tore its fangs out of the soil and charged at Connor one more time. Connor had been expecting this repetitive attack style and punched downwards sending the snake face first into the dirt. He then flicked his blade back into place on his gauntlet and jumped onto the snakes head, preparing to finish it quickly.

Feeling Connor on its head, the King Taijitu lifted its head up and Connor flew off, landing in the dirt.

Beginning to panic, Connor changed his weapons into shotgun mode, causing them to transform into a military class, black shotgun, and he opened fire sending shotgun shells all around the clearing, only a few of them hitting the snake, but doing next to nothing.

The snake, sensing the fear in its prey, slowly slithered forward while opening its mouth to reveal its fangs.

 _"CALM DOWN!"_ Kane shouted, aware of Connors panicked state.

But this only panicked Connor more. He continued to fire shotgun shells at the snake, missing almost all of the time now, while it slithered closer to him and he crawled backwards.

The King Taijitus mouth was now completely open, Connor dropped his shotgun out of sheer fear and prepared for the end, to be swallowed whole and slowly digested.

After a few seconds, Connor realized that the snake hadn't moved. Something had happened. Suddenly, the snake went limp and fell to the ground, revealing a small, sharpened tree sticking out of its skull.

Connor leaned his head around the dead Grimm to see Mars standing behind the corpse.

Mars stood the in his long pale green cloak and suit, with his long dyed dark green hair flapping in the wind, staring right at Connor with a mixed look of disappointment and anger.

Connor nervously smiled and greeted him. "Hey Mars. What's up?"

Mars breathed out deeply and then said, "I am very disappointed in you."

Connor's smile disappeared and he hung his head in shame. "I'm sorry." He muttered.

"You could have died!" Mars scolded.

There was a short silence between the two of them before Connor lifted up his head and spoke.

"At least the temple guardian's dead."

Mars turned away from Connor and stared into the mouth of cave whilst the rain continued to fall down on the two.

"That wasn't the guardian."

 **Hope you all enjoyed this one, Mars becomes a favourite of mine later on. Anyway, more of these flashbacks will pop up throughout the story to explain Connor's past. I'll upload another couple of chapters today if all goes to plan. So, please follow the story if you're enjoying it so far, as I have loads more chapters to upload. Also, any reviews, short or long, would be greatly appreciated. I love reading comments.**


	4. Chapter 4- Don't Mess With The New Kid

Outcasts and Outlaws

Chapter 4

Don't Mess With The New Kid

 **Outcasts and Outlaws passed 100 total views while I was at work, which feels amazing since I've been working on it for so long, so thank you to everyone's who's read even just one chapter. Anyway, onto the next one!**

Music: RWBY OP 1

(Music starts, shows Connor in a red shirt kneeling behind a tall figure in a green cloak in front of him) (Connor raises his hand, a depressed look in his eye)

THEY SEE YOU AS SMALL AND HELPLESS!

(The figure's green cloak flaps in the wind)

THEY SEE YOU AS JUST A CHILD!

(Dark clouds start to form in Connor's eye, it being zoomed in on until he evaporated into dark clouds)

SURPRISE WHEN THEY FIND OUT THAT A WARRIOR WILL SOON RUN WILD!

[OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS]

PREPARE FOR YOUR GREATEST MOMENT!

(Shows Ruby in a training room with her scythe)

PREPARE FOR YOUR FINEST HOUR!

(Shows Connor standing in a tree wearing a long black coat)

THE DREAM THAT YOU'VE ALWAYS DREAMED

(Shows Yang on her bike)

IS SUDDENLY ABOUT TO FLOWER!

(Shows a horde of Grimm advancing)

WE ARE LIGHTNING!

(Shows Damien with Brook standing on one side of him, a shadowy figure on the other)

STRAYING FROM THE THUNDER!

(Connor looks behind him as a Grimm drops down and charges, but slashes past it)

MIRACLES OF ANCIENT WONDER!

(Shows Connor, Yang and Ruby charge in)

THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE WAITED FOR!

(Shows Connor standing in front of Beacon looking apprehensive)

THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE OPEN UP THE DOOR.

(Connor starts to fall forward)

I DON'T WANNA HEAR YOUR ABSOLUTION!

(Ozpin catches him and pulls him back up, then Team JNPR come to stand with him)

HOPE YOUR'E READY FOR A REVOLUTION!

(Shows Ozpin walking away from Connor with his Kane over his shoulder)

WELCOME TO A WORLD OF NEW SOLUTIONS!

(Zooms in on Ozpin's eye as a gold gear spins around in it)

WELCOME TO A WORLD OF BLOODY EVOLUTION!

(Shows Ruby, then Yang, then Ozpin, then a shadowy figure)

IN TIME, YOUR HEART WILL OPEN MINDS!

(Connor steps through the shadowy figure and draws his arm blades)

A STORY WILL BE TOLD!

(He does an epic pose)

AND VICTORY IS IN A SIMPLE SOUL!

[END]

Fire. Fire everywhere. Spreading throughout the village, taking lives.

Bodies, lying everywhere. All of them scarred, burned and bleeding.

One child stood. Alive, but scarred. His rage subsiding and turning into tears.

"Connor? Connor?"

Connor felt someone nudging his shoulder as he awoke from his nightmare. He raised his head and adjusted his eyes to the light, managing to make out a figure to his left.

"Ruby?"

"Class is over, you fell asleep." Ruby told him as he got up out of his seat.

Connor looked around the classroom. Everyone else had already left. Ruby had stayed behind for him.

"Are you all right?" Ruby asked, sounding worried. "You look terrible."

Connor put his hand on his head to check his temperature and then replied, "I'm fine. I just had a nightmare, that's all."

Ruby became even more worried at this and asked, "What was it about?"

Before Connor could answer, Yang poked her head into the classroom door and yelled for Ruby to hurry up.

"Oh, I gotta go to lunch." Ruby said and then asked, "Do you want to come eat with my team?"

Connor looked at her in surprise. "Really?"

Ruby smiled and said, "I don't see why not. Besides, you probably don't have many friends in the short time you've been here."

Connor thought for a moment. There were good reasons why the other students weren't being so friendly with him, so why was Ruby being so nice?

"So what do you say?" Ruby asked.

Connor looked to Ruby and smiled. "I'll be there in a minute," he assured her. "I just have to check on something."

Ruby smiled and cheerfully said, "Okay, I'll meet you there."

Ruby walked out of the room beaming at her success, leaving Connor to collect his thoughts.

 _"You almost told her."_ Kane commented.

Connor picked up his things from the desk and asked, "Why is that so strange?"

 _"You've never told anyone about it."_ Kane explained.

Connor didn't reply. He just walked out of the room without saying a word, not wanting to reflect upon that day.

When Connor arrived in the lunch hall, he spotted Yang sitting at a table on her own, presumably waiting for Ruby, and Team JNPR at a different table. Looking around some more, he saw Blake and Weiss sitting at a table with two guys he hadn't seen before, but he still couldn't find Ruby.

"I'm sure I had enough earlier."

Connor followed the source of the noise to his left and saw Ruby standing at the food counter fumbling with some coins. He walked over and tapped her on the shoulder.

Ruby let out a small scream and turned around, and then saw that it was only Connor and smiled.

"Oh, hi Connor!' I'm glad you decided to come!" She beamed.

"What seems to be the problem here?" Connor enquired.

"Oh, well…I lost some money and now I don't have enough to pay for this ice cream." Ruby explained.

Normally, Connor would've just left it at that. He would've said goodbye and walked away, but he couldn't do that to Ruby. He wasn't sure why, but he felt obligated to help her.

"Which one is it?" Connor asked.

"It's the mint chocolate one, right there." Ruby pointed out the mint chocolate flavoured ice cream, with an expensive price label.

"That's a pretty expensive ice cream." Connor commented, wondering how Ruby had expected to be able to pay for it.

Ruby sighed, "I know, but it's my favourite flavour." Then she looked directly at Connor, giving him puppy eyes without even meaning to.

Connor was lost for words. Was she flirting? Maybe she didn't mean to, maybe she just really wanted that ice cream. Either way, he found himself reaching into his pocket, Ruby's face lighting up as he did so, and pulling out all of his money, then he placed it on the counter.

Ruby's smile of disbelief didn't leave her face as she took her ice cream and had a first lick. She shivered, the cold giving her a small brain freeze. Then she looked at Connor with sparkling eyes.

"Thank you so much!" She said.

Connor let out a little smile and joked, "No problem, it was only all of my money."

Ruby gasped and asked, "It was?!"

"Yeah," Connor admitted, "But don't worry about it. I don't really need any money for myself."

Ruby's smile grew larger and then she looked over to Yang and waved her ice cream in the air.

Yang stared over at Connor. "What's his deal?" She thought. "He barely speaks to anyone else, but he brought Ruby an ice cream? What does he want with her?"

"I don't remember having ice cream as a kid." Though Connor. "My parents never had a chance to buy me one." Thinking about his parents made him suddenly become very sombre and he didn't realise he was being watched.

 _"Yang's staring at you."_ Kane informed him.

He looked up and saw Yang looking right at him and quickly looked away, hoping that Yang hadn't seen the tear run down his face.

But Yang had seen the tear, and with that she started to piece together the pieces of the puzzle. "Connor Hikaru-Kodomo." She thought. "Where have I heard that name before?"

Connor looked at Ruby again. She was gobbling down her ice cream lightning fast, and was enjoying every bit.

"How does she do that?" He thought to himself. "She's always so happy and cheerful and she makes me feel the same way. That's something I haven't felt in years."

 _"Oh, get a room."_ Kane teased.

"Shut up." Connor thought.

Ruby gulped down the last bit of her ice cream and smiled. "All right, I'm done!"

Connor asked, "So what now?"

"Well, we were planning to go to Vale for the day." Ruby told him. "You can come if you'd like."

"Really?" Connor couldn't believe how nice she was being to him. He'd never had friends before and now he seemed to have made one using ice cream.

Ruby assured him, "Yang won't mind, let's go over and ask her."

"Hey, new guy!"

Connor turned and looked in the direction of the table Blake and Weiss were sitting at. The two guys they were with were standing over there posing confidently. One had blue hair and a red jumper over his school uniform and the other had blonde hair, an open white shirt which showed off a six pack and a monkey tail.

" _That makes him a Faunus."_ Kane deduced.

The blue haired guy pointed at Connor and said, "You're Connor right? I'm Neptune and this is Sun." He pointed to the monkey boy.

Sun stepped forward and announced, "Rumour has it, you're pretty strong. How about an arm wrestle to prove it? With a 20 Len bet?"

Blake and Weiss both rolled their eyes at the two boys showing off their strength in an attempt to woo the ladies.

Ruby interjected, "Actually, we were just about to head into-"

Connor put his hand in front of her and said, "This won't take but a minute."

Before Ruby could reply, Connor has stepped forward to talk with Sun and Neptune.

"I'll take you both on." He announced, "And we'll raise the bet to 40 Len." This caused quite a commotion in the hall as he sat down to the opposite of the two and took their hands in his and prepared to wrestle, the money on the table.

"You know what to do, Kane." He whispered as Nora stepped out from the crowd to start the match.

The moment Nora said go, the match was over within a second as Kane pumped power from into both of Connor's arms giving him enough strength to defeat both Sun and Neptune instantly.

Everyone watching was shocked into silence. Connor stood up from the table and took his prize money, more than enough to make up for the ice cream, as Neptune and Sun rubbed their wrists in confusion.

"How did you get so strong?" Sun queried. "You always broke my wrist."

Connor took a look back before walking away and saying, "That, monkey boy, was my semblance."

"What?! You cheated?!" Neptune yelled in confusion, but Connor was already long gone.

On his way back to Ruby, he felt an impact on his right cheek and turned around to investigate. A team of 4 armoured guys were sitting at a table smirking at him, obviously looking for a fight.

"Do you want something?" Connor said in a harsh tone, hoping he could scare them out of fighting him.

The one in the middle of the group, who Connor assumed was the leader, was sitting down at the table while all of his team-mates stood. He responded to Connor's question.

"I know who you are." He stated.

Connor stopped thinking rationally at that point. He rushed forward and grabbed the guys throat in one hand and pushed him down onto the table.

Then he whispered, "I'm warning you, keep your mouth shut about who I am or you might end up getting hurt. If you know who I am, then you know not to mess with me."

Everyone in the hall watched from afar as he assaulted Cardin, no one understanding what was going on.

"What's he doing?" Ruby thought, slightly scared. "Did Cardin say something bad?"

Ruby looked at Sky Lark, a team member of Cardin's and saw him pull out a knife.

"Connor!" She yelled, "Watch out!"

Connor turned around quickly enough to see the knife but not quickly enough to stop it. Sky buried the knife into Connor's right shoulder blade, causing him enough pain to make him let out a small scream. He lost his grip on Cardin, who fell to the ground wheezing, and upper-cutted Sky with his bad arm which caused the blade to go deeper in.

The punch knocked Sky out instantly, and everyone stared directly at Connor, at his wounds and his eyes.

Blake looked right into them and couldn't help but notice a certain ferocity, and then as she looked, one of his eyes flashed black.

Blake stayed silent, taking note of what she had seen, knowing this was not the place to mention it.

Connor grabbed the handle of the knife and pulled it out, letting out another small scream, and he dropped it onto the floor. Then he made a beeline for the exit, and started to make his way to the medical bay.

"What have I done?" He thought as he trudged down the corridor holding his wound.

 _"It was always going to happen eventually,_ " Kane stated, _"Let's just hope no-one else knows the truth about you and me."_

 **Well, there's another one done. I hope people are liking the Connor/Kane duo; their story will be explained in an upcoming chapter. I also hope you like the Connor/Ruby fluff, because that's my favourite part about this story. Anyway, leave reviews and comments and whatnot, and I'll try to upload one more today.**


	5. Chapter 5- A Visit to the Infirmary

Outcasts and Outlaws

Chapter 5

A Visit to the Infirmary

 **Sorry I didn't end up uploading more chapters last night like I said I would, my discord server got really busy. Anyway, I'll try upload a couple more today. Enjoy!**

(Music starts, shows Connor in a red shirt kneeling behind a tall figure in a green cloak in front of him) (Connor raises his hand, a depressed look in his eye)

THEY SEE YOU AS SMALL AND HELPLESS!

(The figure's green cloak flaps in the wind)

THEY SEE YOU AS JUST A CHILD!

(Dark clouds start to form in Connor's eye, it being zoomed in on until he evaporated into dark clouds)

SURPRISE WHEN THEY FIND OUT THAT A WARRIOR WILL SOON RUN WILD!

[OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS]

PREPARE FOR YOUR GREATEST MOMENT!

(Shows Ruby in a training room with her scythe)

PREPARE FOR YOUR FINEST HOUR!

(Shows Connor standing in a tree wearing a long black coat)

THE DREAM THAT YOU'VE ALWAYS DREAMED

(Shows Yang on her bike)

IS SUDDENLY ABOUT TO FLOWER!

(Shows a horde of Grimm advancing)

WE ARE LIGHTNING!

(Shows Damien with Brook standing on one side of him, a shadowy figure on the other)

STRAYING FROM THE THUNDER!

(Connor looks behind him as a Grimm drops down and charges, but slashes past it)

MIRACLES OF ANCIENT WONDER!

(Shows Connor, Yang and Ruby charge in)

THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE WAITED FOR!

(Shows Connor standing in front of Beacon looking apprehensive)

THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE OPEN UP THE DOOR.

(Connor starts to fall forward)

I DON'T WANNA HEAR YOUR ABSOLUTION!

(Ozpin catches him and pulls him back up, then Team JNPR come to stand with him)

HOPE YOUR'E READY FOR A REVOLUTION!

(Shows Ozpin walking away from Connor with his Kane over his shoulder)

WELCOME TO A WORLD OF NEW SOLUTIONS!

(Zooms in on Ozpin's eye as a gold gear spins around in it)

WELCOME TO A WORLD OF BLOODY EVOLUTION!

(Shows Ruby, then Yang, then Ozpin, then a shadowy figure)

IN TIME, YOUR HEART WILL OPEN MINDS!

(Connor steps through the shadowy figure and draws his arm blades)

A STORY WILL BE TOLD!

(He does an epic pose)

AND VICTORY IS IN A SIMPLE SOUL!

[END]

Throbbing pain, trying to ignore it. Blood dripping, trying to stay conscious, trying to keep pressure on the wound.

 _"Don't be a baby, it's just a scratch."_

Lost in a maze of a building. No idea where to go.

 _"Why don't you just ask someone?"_

Struggling to keep consciousness, losing too much blood. Aura is failing to close the wound. Not going to make it.

"Connor? What happened to you?"

Connor, slowly walking, hunched over, comes to a stop and looks up. It's Ozpin and his coffee.

"That wound looks infected." He notes. "We should get you to the medical bay."

Connor smiles weakly at the thought of a nice warm bed and nurses to tend his wound. He looks at Ozpin.

Ozpin's form shifts. A shadow, a silhouette of a man. The man Connor is scared of more than anything. The man that killed...

He falls backwards out of fear and cowers under the dark figure, crying and begging for mercy.

"Connor?!" Ozpin's voice says with concern. "What's wrong?"

A hand reaches out from the darkness. It's just him and the man now; he can't even hear Kane anymore. The hand touches his shoulder and he blacks out.

Many hours later, Connor slowly opens his eyes. He looks around and sees nurses and a doctor walking around the room. He's in the medical bay, he made it.

"Connor?"

He slowly turned his head to the left and saw Ruby sitting in a chair next to his bed and weakly smiled.

"Connor!" She exclaimed as her grip around his hand tightened.

Connor straightened his back and propped himself up against his pillow, wincing as he did so. He looked down at his hand and saw it in Ruby's grip.

Ruby immediately blushes and let's go of his hand. "Sorry." She said "I was worried about you that's all."

Connor looks at Ruby in confusion. "What happened to me?"

 _"You fainted, you wimp."_ Kane bullied.

Ruby explained, "After what happened in the hall I tried to find you and get you to a doctor. I found you in the corridor with Ozpin. You were unconscious on the ground."

Connor grew even more confused. "Fainted? Unconscious? How?" He asked in succession.

Ruby continued, "Ozpin said the knife that Sky stabbed you with was coated with a hallucinogenic poison. He had it on him as a backup for surprise Grimm attacks. It made you act weird."

Connor looked away from Ruby and processed this. "So I was hallucinating? That explains a lot."

" _Yeah, like why you were being so wimpy."_ Kane continued to bully.

Connor ignored him and spoke to Ruby.

"It was nice of you to come and see me." Connor praised. "We don't even know each other that well."

"I know." Ruby admitted, "But I feel like we clicked, you know?"

Connor was really surprised at that. She genuinely liked him. He fell silent as he thought that over, forgetting Ruby was there.

"Connor, what did Cardin say to you?" Ruby asked, feeling slightly nervous that she was treading on thin ice.

"Cardin?"

"Cardin Winchester, The one you were fighting in the hall." Ruby explained.

Connor wasn't sure what to tell her and ended up saying, "Something he shouldn't have. Something I couldn't let him get away with."

"But what?" Ruby continued to query, still nervous.

Connor looked away from Ruby and at a scar on the back of his left hand. "You're treading some pretty thin ice there, Ruby." He warned.

Ruby started to become a little frightened. "I'm sorry I won't mention it again."

Connor sighed. "I won't hurt you, Ruby." He assured her. "There are just some things I'm not ready to talk about yet."

Ruby looked down at her feet, feeling a mixture of disappointment and sadness.

He couldn't stand to see her like that. She was usually really happy. Now she was bringing him down too.

"A long time ago, when I was a kid, something very bad happened to me." Connor admitted. "I don't like to think about it but Cardin knew and he reminded me of it."

Ruby looked up in curiosity. "How did he know?"

"Let's just say that what happened to me was pretty big news at the time." Connor said.

Then there was a short silence between the two before Ruby suddenly perked up and asked, "Do you still want to come into Vale with me and my team?"

"I thought you would've gone by now." Connor said.

Ruby smiled and told him, "We postponed it because you're in here."

Connor was incredibly surprised. "You didn't have to do that for me." He said.

"I thought you would've gotten used to it by now." Ruby replied.

"Gotten used to what?" Connor asked.

"People being nice to you." Ruby explained.

Connor thought about that. People had been a lot nicer to him so far, with the exception of a few certain individuals. Ruby especially had been really kind.

"Ruby..." Connor asked, "Why are you being so nice to me?"

Ruby seemed confused by this question. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Connor looked down at his scar again and explained, "No one has ever been nice to me. I've always been an outcast. Even in my home town. Just because of my past." He then clenched his fist and let out a tear.

 _"Oh, you baby."_ Kane scolded.

"Shut up, Kane!" Connor thought, with that Kane was silent.

"I think no matter what happened in your past, you should still be treated as a normal person." Ruby stated.

Connor looked up at Ruby, tears on the edge of his eyes, and stared right into hers.

"Ruby...thank you." He sobbed.

There was a short silence between the two of them while Connor wiped the tears from his eyes, then Ruby spoke.

"So do you want to come into Vale tomorrow?"

Connor thought it over for a second and then replied, "If I'm out of here by then, I'll come."

Ruby smiled at her success and said, "All right then. You get better soon."

Connor smiled back at her as she left the room, leaving Connor to inspect his wound.

He looked down at his right shoulder. The knife had made a significantly deep and long cut, and had bled a lot. At that moment he wondered why he didn't have a bandage over it and moved his index finger towards it to give it a poke.

"I wouldn't recommend that." Said a voice from the other side of the room. Connor looked up and saw a middle aged man with a goatee and a doctor's uniform under a lab coat walking towards him.

The doctor moved Connor's finger out of the way and inspected the cut. "Hmm." He said. "You're definitely going to need stitches."

The doctor then noticed that Connor was staring at him trying to figure out who he was. "My apologies." He announced, "My name is Doctor Brian. I'll be tending to your wound."

Connor, still staring at Doctor Brian in confusion, replied, "I'm Connor."

The doctor stood up from examining Connor's wound and stated, "Yes, I know who you are. Ozpin told me all about you."

Connor lost rationality once again and tried to lift himself up and get to the doctor, but winced and fell back down.

"Don't worry." Doctor Brian comforted. "I know to keep it a secret." Connor relaxed upon hearing this.

The doctor walked over to a table full of surgical tools on the other side of the room and pulled it to Connor's bedside. While he searched for the tool he required, he said, "It really was awful what happened in the village that day."

This struck a nerve in Connor, and he was paralyzed by his memories of that day. The doctor noticed this and apologised. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have brought that up."

He then found his tool, a pair of scissors, and began to cut the sleeve of Connor's shirt off to get easy access to the wound. He then put down the scissors and picked up a stitching set.

"This might hurt a little." He warned.

Connor winced as the needle went in and out of his skin, sowing up the wound, causing Kane to tease him. _"Oh, stop being such a wimp."_

"You shouldn't tease him, Kane. This procedure has made grown men cry." The doctor advised.

Connor's eyes widened as the doctor finished the job. "You can hear Kane?" He'd only ever come across one person besides himself who could hear Kane, and that person was no more. How could this Doctor hear him?

Doctor Brian explained, "Anyone with a high enough level of telepathic training can hear him, so that's me and Ozpin."

Connor was shocked; he'd never known that was all it took to communicate with Kane.

The doctor stood up and announced, "There, all done. Now try to get some rest and you'll be ready to leave in no time at all."

Connor asked, "Do you think I'll be out by tomorrow?"

"As long as you rest up." The doctor advised, 'And don't get into anymore fights before the stitches fall out.

The doctor walked out of the room and left Connor and Kane to talk.

 _"Don't get into anymore fights?"_ Kane repeated. _"This guy doesn't know you as well as he thinks."_

Connor nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I can't help but get into fights. It's like I'm a magnet for trouble."

Connor thought back to that day at the village. How many people had Ozpin told? He fell into a deep sleep with that on his mind.

Kane however seemed uneasy, as if he sensed trouble, and stayed alert all through the night.

 **Okay, so the next will have a little bit of action and finally show Connor and Kane's semblance in action very briefly. After that, I have to work on rewriting chapters 7-10, because they were unfortunately deleted in a phone reset, but once that's done it'll back to my normal upload speed.**


	6. Chapter 6- Brook Phobos

Outcasts and Outlaws

Chapter 6

Brook Phobos

 **Sorry for the longer wait on this one. I had to run through it and add a bit more flesh to the fight because looking at three years later I could see it wasn't very long. It's still not super long now, but it would've taken me a lot longer to edit, plus this fight is just an introduction to the character anyway. Also, I should mention that the next four chapters need to be rewritten from scratch, so there might be a delay anywhere between two days and a week between chapters until chapter 11. I'll try to work as fast as I can without the quality dropping. Well, with that said, enjoy the chapter!**

Music: RWBY OP 1

(Music starts, shows Connor in a red shirt kneeling behind a tall figure in a green cloak in front of him) (Connor raises his hand, a depressed look in his eye)

THEY SEE YOU AS SMALL AND HELPLESS!

(The figure's green cloak flaps in the wind)

THEY SEE YOU AS JUST A CHILD!

(Dark clouds start to form in Connor's eye, it being zoomed in on until he evaporated into dark clouds)

SURPRISE WHEN THEY FIND OUT THAT A WARRIOR WILL SOON RUN WILD!

[OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS]

PREPARE FOR YOUR GREATEST MOMENT!

(Shows Ruby in a training room with her scythe)

PREPARE FOR YOUR FINEST HOUR!

(Shows Connor standing in a tree wearing a long black coat)

THE DREAM THAT YOU'VE ALWAYS DREAMED

(Shows Yang on her bike)

IS SUDDENLY ABOUT TO FLOWER!

(Shows a horde of Grimm advancing)

WE ARE LIGHTNING!

(Shows Damien with Brook standing on one side of him, a shadowy figure on the other)

STRAYING FROM THE THUNDER!

(Connor looks behind him as a Grimm drops down and charges, but slashes past it)

MIRACLES OF ANCIENT WONDER!

(Shows Connor, Yang and Ruby charge in)

THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE WAITED FOR!

(Shows Connor standing in front of Beacon looking apprehensive)

THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE OPEN UP THE DOOR.

(Connor starts to fall forward)

I DON'T WANNA HEAR YOUR ABSOLUTION!

(Ozpin catches him and pulls him back up, then Team JNPR come to stand with him)

HOPE YOUR'E READY FOR A REVOLUTION!

(Shows Ozpin walking away from Connor with his Kane over his shoulder)

WELCOME TO A WORLD OF NEW SOLUTIONS!

(Zooms in on Ozpin's eye as a gold gear spins around in it)

WELCOME TO A WORLD OF BLOODY EVOLUTION!

(Shows Ruby, then Yang, then Ozpin, then a shadowy figure)

IN TIME, YOUR HEART WILL OPEN MINDS!

(Connor steps through the shadowy figure and draws his arm blades)

A STORY WILL BE TOLD!

(He does an epic pose)

AND VICTORY IS IN A SIMPLE SOUL!

[END]

Connor stood in the centre of the vale plaza, awaiting the arrival of Ruby's team. Is shirt now had only one sleeve after the other was cut off to stitch his shoulder wound and he hadn't bothered to fix it. He wasn't any good at that kind of stuff.

He was looking forward to the day ahead. It was the first time anyone had invited him out and it had raised his spirits significantly. Kane however was being his usual grumpy self and wanted nothing to do with it.

Connor heard someone calling his name from somewhere and turned to see Ruby, Yang, Weiss and Blake walking across the plaza towards him. Ruby smiled cheerfully all the way whilst Yang looked cautious of Connor and Weiss and Blake looked bored, as if they really didn't want to be there.

"Hey, Connor!" Ruby greeted when they all reached him. "How are you feeling?"

Connor moved his shoulder around, testing it and then replied, "A lot better thanks."

Before the two could continue their conservation, Weiss hurried over and poked Connors torn sleeve, pouting furiously.

"What is this?!" She complained. "You cannot walk around town like that, I won't allow it! We are all going to go and look for something for you to wear!"

Weiss then stormed off in the direction of the nearest clothes shop, Blake reluctantly following. Connor didn't like Weiss' bossiness, but he didn't have any other choice, and he needed a new shirt anyway. He and Ruby soon followed, walking side by side whilst Yang watched from closely from behind.

Oblivious to Yang's stare, Ruby commented, "I liked that shirt, it's a shame."

"Yeah, it is." Connor responded, secretly glad Ruby liked his fashion style. "But I've been wearing the same shirt for years; I could use a new one."

Yang followed the two closely as they spoke, eavesdropping on their conversation. So far Connor seemed like a fairly normal person, so she supposed she could try to be nice and maybe learn a bit more about him, but she couldn't shake the feeling she'd heard his name somewhere before.

Much to their surprise, Yang then approached Ruby and Connor and put her arms around their shoulders, acting friendly. "So what are you guys talking about?" She grinned, pretending to be nice to learn more about Connor.

Connor instantly saw through her deceit however, and casually remarked, "Why are you so cheerful all of a sudden?"

Yang tightened her arm around Connor, slightly cramping him and whispered into his ear, "Ruby is off limits, understood?"

Connor didn't immediately understand what she meant but after a quick notification from Kane, got what she was saying. "Don't say that!" He replied. "We're just friends!"

Leaving Ruby confused by the whole exchange, Yang let go of the two of them and patted Connor on the head as if disciplining him and then ordered, "Keep it that way." Then sped off in front of them to rejoin Weiss and Blake.

Before Ruby could ask Connor what that was all about they had arrived at the front of the clothes shop, and in the front was an extravagant black trench coat on a mannequin. Weiss saw its glory and cried out, "This one is perfect! It'd look great on you!"

"I do think it would suit you." Ruby agreed, making Connor want to check it out. He walked up to the cloak and checked the price tag, then frowned.

"It's pretty expensive." He commented, disappointed by the high value price tag of the cloak. Both he and Kane both liked the look of it.

"That's all right, we'll pay for it." Ruby suggested cheerfully. "We can all pitch in!"

The three other girls looked annoyed by this, but didn't want to upset Ruby and since she was their team leader, they had to obey her. They all handed their money over to Ruby who handed it to Connor in turn. Connor couldn't believe it. Nobody had ever been so generous towards him before, he was happy but also questioning why they were being so nice.

Connor took the money anyway and brought the cloak, putting it on as soon as they left the shop. The cloak was very long, its tail extending down to his knees and its collar sticking up over his neck, but he liked it and so did Kane. Afterwards, Weiss announced that she was going to the dust shop and Yang and Blake left for the bookstore. Ruby said she wanted to go to the magazine shop and Connor went with her. Once there, Ruby immediately grabbed a weapons magazine and started flicking through the pages enthusiastically. Connor went over and saw a magazine cover with a picture of a wanted poster on the front and opened to the indicated page for a read.

Beware citizens! A murderer walks the streets! Brook Phobos! A member of the dying group of rebels known as the Outlaws, known for once almost causing civil war between the state and the Outcasts of society, has been spotted in Vale! If you catch sight of this villainous scum, stay away! He is armed and is known to have psychopathic tendencies! He will kill you simply for seeing him! If you spot this fiend call the Vale Police Department immediately!

Connor took one last look at the front cover of the magazine, making a note to remember the face, and then placed it back down. Ruby was already paying for her magazine and Connor began to walk over to her.

He stopped and stood still when he heard glass smashing. The skylight of the shop had been broken and a man in tattered clothing was jumping down through the hole. The intruder landed in between Ruby and the shop keeper and smashed the till with his weapon, intent on vandalism rather than robbery.

When the attacker looked at Connor, he instantly recognised his face. He was bald with many scars all over his face and his arms ended not in hands, but in rusty metal work hooks, sharpened to their peak. It was Brook Phobos, the madman murderer from the wanted poster.

"Ruby, run!" Connor yelled urgently, knowing she wouldn't be any help without her weapon. She heeded his warning and bolted out of the door looking for Yang. Brook lunged Connor, who flicked out his wrist blades just in time to block the sharp hooks. Brook pushed hard against Connors defence, his strength was unbelievable. Connor requested a boost from Kane and he got it, allowing him to push Brook off.

"The hell, man? You come all the way here to rob this place, or just to get at me?" Connor questioned, but before he got an answer, Brook charged in again with his hooks, forcing Connor to block with his arm blades like he had before.

"Just to get at you? You sure think highly of yourself!" Brook replied with an unnerving laugh. Connor couldn't but notice the criminal was looking right into his eyes, but not at them. He was looking beyond them, at the thing inside. Could he possibly have been looking at Kane.

Brook pushed Connor back after that, he banging into the counter and going flying over it. He got up as quickly as he could, changing his arm blade gauntlets into their shotgun form and aiming it at Brook, who leapt off the counter and flipped the shot. Holes opened up in his hooks as he was in midair above Connor, bullets spraying out at full auto. Connor was barely able to step back and avoid being shot, thanks to Kane's reaction time, but Brook landed on him as he fell, both of them ending up on the floor.

"Give me your damn eye!" Brook threateningly snarled as his hooks neared Connor's face, he holding his attacker's arms back with all his strength. When the tip of the blade neared his eyeball, he kneed Brook in the stomach, he backing off with a grunt. As he got back to his feet, Connor felt a sudden burst of rage from Kane that forced him forward, tackling Brook towards the window.

Both of them got a little cut up by the broken glass, but were mostly fine. Both of them got back to their feet quickly, Connor feeling a strange sensation in his gut and suffering from a mighty headache. He could feel Kane getting angrier, worried he'd lose control at any moment. He tried to stick by what Mars had told him to do in times like these: Don't use the semblance, not even a little bit.

Brook cried out intelligibly and scratched his hooks together as he ran in, two clones quickly appearing by either side of him. Connor was caught off guard, but managed to graze one of the clones with his arm blade, it being dispelled as soon as contact was made. He had to block the other ones attack, but it too faded away into nothingness. He wasn't sure if it meant that Brook's clones could only last for a few seconds or if he'd purposefully gotten rid of it, but made a note of it. The real Brook however, was right in the middle, crying out as he swung his hooks down towards Connor's face once again.

Connor felt a sudden burst of rage from Kane that forced him forward, tackling Brook towards the window.

Meanwhile Ruby stood on the plaza, Yang rushing towards her after receiving a message on her scroll. Ruby quickly explained what had happened and the two rushed back to the magazine shop, but before they reached it, Connor and Brook barrelled out of the window in each other's wrestling arms.

Brook cut Connors recently stitched shoulder open again they tumbled onto the concrete. Connor winced from the pain but gritted his teeth and quickly started to stand up. Before he could however, Brook was already upright and stuck a hook into Connors left eye.

Ruby screamed Connors name as he writhed in pain, blooding seeping from the wound. Brook looked Connor in the eye and maliciously whispered, "Pleasure to see you again, Kane." Followed by a mad laugh.

Connor flinched as his opponent said Kane's name. How did he know about Kane? Who the hell was this guy? Before his questions could be answered, Brook tore the hook out of Connors eye, spraying blood everywhere and leaving a nasty scar.

Ruby whimpered as she saw blood flowing freely from Connors eye and his consciousness wavering. Brook laughed maniacally again and declared, "Now, I'll take your other eye!" He swung his hook down towards his other eye, but it was deflected by an invisible barrier. Brook stepped away from Connor knowing what was happening, knowing he was too late claim his kill, as a black shadowy aura formed around Connor.

Ruby didn't know what has happening. She watched as the shadowy aura surrounded Connors entire body and lifted his head, snarling.

His eyes were pitch black.

Connor, or rather what was left of his mind, quickly rose and shot a dark ball of energy at Brook, who was hit by it and disappeared. The Brook Connor had hit had just been a clone that Brook had used, in order to get away.

Because he knew he was no match for Kane.

Connor turned to Ruby, the shadowy aura now fading and collapsed.

 **So there's the first villain of the series. In a later chapter, his boss'll turn up and things'll be explained. Also, about word count in these chapters: I've never really had a goal for word count in mind whilst writing these, but the chapters do get longer on average as the volumes go on. This volume all has pretty short ones, but they get longer eventually. Anyway, I'm almost done rewriting the next one, so it might be up today. Until then!**


	7. Chapter 7- Interrogation

Outcasts and Outlaws

Chapter 7

Interrogation

 **Okay, so it took longer than I expected to get this done, mostly because I've been way busier than I expected, but also because I was trying to make it just a little bit longer. I did so ever so slightly, but it's still shorter than usual. That said, it hits all the points I wanted it to. From here, Connor's past will start to be fully revealed. Enjoy!**

Music: RWBY OP 1

(Music starts, shows Connor in a red shirt kneeling behind a tall figure in a green cloak in front of him) (Connor raises his hand, a depressed look in his eye)

THEY SEE YOU AS SMALL AND HELPLESS!

(The figure's green cloak flaps in the wind)

THEY SEE YOU AS JUST A CHILD!

(Dark clouds start to form in Connor's eye, it being zoomed in on until he evaporated into dark clouds)

SURPRISE WHEN THEY FIND OUT THAT A WARRIOR WILL SOON RUN WILD!

[OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS]

PREPARE FOR YOUR GREATEST MOMENT!

(Shows Ruby in a training room with her scythe)

PREPARE FOR YOUR FINEST HOUR!

(Shows Connor standing in a tree wearing a long black coat)

THE DREAM THAT YOU'VE ALWAYS DREAMED

(Shows Yang on her bike)

IS SUDDENLY ABOUT TO FLOWER!

(Shows a horde of Grimm advancing)

WE ARE LIGHTNING!

(Shows Damien with Brook standing on one side of him, a shadowy figure on the other)

STRAYING FROM THE THUNDER!

(Connor looks behind him as a Grimm drops down and charges, but slashes past it)

MIRACLES OF ANCIENT WONDER!

(Shows Connor, Yang and Ruby charge in)

THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE WAITED FOR!

(Shows Connor standing in front of Beacon looking apprehensive)

THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE OPEN UP THE DOOR.

(Connor starts to fall forward)

I DON'T WANNA HEAR YOUR ABSOLUTION!

(Ozpin catches him and pulls him back up, then Team JNPR come to stand with him)

HOPE YOUR'E READY FOR A REVOLUTION!

(Shows Ozpin walking away from Connor with his Kane over his shoulder)

WELCOME TO A WORLD OF NEW SOLUTIONS!

(Zooms in on Ozpin's eye as a gold gear spins around in it)

WELCOME TO A WORLD OF BLOODY EVOLUTION!

(Shows Ruby, then Yang, then Ozpin, then a shadowy figure)

IN TIME, YOUR HEART WILL OPEN MINDS!

(Connor steps through the shadowy figure and draws his arm blades)

A STORY WILL BE TOLD!

(He does an epic pose)

AND VICTORY IS IN A SIMPLE SOUL!

[END]

Connor awoke in the Infirmary, slowly opening his eyes and letting them adjust to the light. What did he remember? He remembered the criminal who had attacked him, Brook, that his eye had been injured. Suddenly, he realised he couldn't see out of it, reaching up and feeling a deep scar running down the middle. He also recalled that Kane's power had taken hold after that and Brook had fled. That reminded him that Brook had known Kane, known he was in Connor's head. He didn't know what it meant, but Kane himself had been awfully quiet since then.

"Connor? You're awake, aren't you?" He heard a voice say, turning his head to see who it was. Ruby was sat next to his bed again, her hand slightly touching his. Behind her stood Yang and the rest of Team RWBY, all with concerned looks on their faces. Apart from Yang, that is. She was staring quite sternly at the hand Ruby was holding. Connor noticed this and pulled his arm back, clenching a fist to see if he still had the strength to do so. "We were really worried about you." Ruby told him, reaching for his hand again. "You got pretty messed up back there..."

Connor was again made conscious of his eye. He was already finding that his depth perception was a little off. He almost went to rub the scar again, but was interrupted by Yang's bellowing voice.

"Okay, enough pleasantries! I want answers!" She shouted, pointing a finger at him.

"Yang, please just let him rest first!" Ruby begged, standing up and getting in her older sister's way, but it was no use. Yang simply pushed her aside, only one thing on her mind. Connor could easily guess what she was about to say.

"I know who you are." Yang declared, Connor looking away solemnly. It was all over. He hadn't even lasted a week before it all came crashing down. "I talked to some people about it. Blake, Pyrhaa, Cardin...Ozpin...They told me some pretty messed up stuff."

Connor looked back with the same solemn expression, as if silently begging her to stay quiet. Blake and Weiss were both hanging on her every word, but Ruby was looking just as solemn as he was. It seemed she already knew as well. "It was all over the news when I was a kid. Ruby was too young to remember, but it was a big deal back then." Yang continued, crossing her arms. "Village boy goes berserk and kills entire village. No survivors. No sign of the boy. I remember seeing those dark clouds in the videos, the ones you used earlier. It was you. You slaughtered a whole village when you were just an infant. You killed your parents!"

"It wasn't like that! I'm not the one who killed my parents!" Connor practically begged, desperately trying to get his side of the story across. Still, Kane said nothing. "The semblance was too much for me to control, I couldn't stop it!"

"BULLSHIT!" Yang yelled, slamming her hands down on the table at the end of his bed. Her eyes had turned red in the time that they had been speaking. "You did it. You slaughtered all those people and now you strut around here as if nothing happened! Even if it is out of your control, you're dangerous!"

Ruby was about to step in again and try to calm Yang down, Connor's words stuck in his throat, but Doctor Brian came in at that moment and interrupted everything. "Keep the noise down, please. I have other patients." He lightly scolded, looking at Connor's papers. "Your eye needs surgery. I'll fit you in as soon as I can get the proper resources. Until then, take it easy. I'll bandage it up before letting you out of here." He went silent, sensing the tension in the room. "Seriously, keep it down." He warned before walking away, leaving them to continue their discussion.

"You will stay away from my sister. You will stay from me." Yang quietly ordered as soon as they were left alone again, giving him a look that indicated what she was willing to do if he did otherwise. "I don't wanna see you within a mile of her. Understood?"

"It wasn't my fault..." Connor croaked, starting to sob. He put his face in his hands and tried to hide the tears, but everyone saw. The mood became even tenser.

"Yang, you should let him tell his side of it." Ruby advised, steeling her nerves to stand up to her sister. "Please."

"Why should I? It won't change anything." She replied, stubbornly refusing to give him even one chance. "I won't let him hurt you." She said in a softer voice, reaching to touch Ruby's shoulder. She smacked it away and walked up to Connor's beside, Yang being right behind her.

"Connor...please tell us. Why did you do it?" Ruby pleaded, giving him a look that made him want to stand up and give her a hug, but he knew he couldn't. Not with Yang right there. He looked away with the frequent solemn look, but knew telling them was his only way out of it.

"If I tell you, you have to keep it a secret. I'll be treated like a monster if this gets out." He requested. Yang went to say that he was one, but stopped when she saw the look on Ruby's face.

"I can understand it. That feeling that everyone will hate you when they know you're secret." Blake chimed in, speaking for the first time. "Tell your side of it."

Connor took a deep breath, preparing himself for what was to come. "All right, here goes nothing."

Kane still stayed completely silent throughout the telling of the story. Once it was over, Yang dragged Ruby out by her arm, despite the protests, Connor looking absolutely defeated, not knowing what to say that could change her mind. "You're a fucking monster!" Yang shouted back as she pulled Ruby out, Blake and Weiss awkwardly following. "I knew it, I knew you were dangerous! Don't you dare come near Ruby ever again!"

Even once they left, Connor was still silent. He wanted to shout but the words wouldn't come. He wanted to cry but the tears weren't there. He just stared forward, completely dead inside. Everything he had gotten a chance to have at Beacon was in the dust, no longer attainable. He didn't even look up when he heard footsteps, someone else coming into the room.

"Judging by Miss Xiao Long's exit, I'm guessing you told them everything." Ozpin said calmly, holding a steaming hot cup of coffee. "That was brave, you did the right thing."

"How was it the right thing?" Connor replied, his voice now becoming a mixture of deadness and sorrow. "I've ruined everything that I had a chance to get, all because of what happened back then. I can't escape it."

Ozpin took a moment to sip his coffee, then sat down on the chair next to the bed. "You don't have to tell me how bad you've had it. It was there." He replied, still as calm as can be. He saw a look of confusion on Connor's face. "Don't you remember? Is it still a blur? How much did you really tell them?"

Connor felt a shiver go up his spine. Ozpin had been there. Why hasn't he remembered, or at least recognised him? "I told them...that I killed all those people...about Kane and...everything..."

Ozpin crossed one leg over the other, giving Connor a reassuring expression. "Kane may be suppressing certain parts of your memory, or perhaps your own mind is concentrating only on the worst part, blotting out details." He theorised. "Regardless, repeat the story back to me. You might remember a few things, like who else was there and what happened afterwards. You didn't assume you just calmed down after a while, did you? That you stopped on your own?"

Connor looked back in front of himself, staring off into space again. He couldn't accept that it wasn't his fault, but as he thought on it, he did recall other people being there. His memory was coming back to him, so much that that night was no longer just the night he met Kane and killed his entire village, but the night he met his mentor, the night his life changed entirely. Swallowing his nerves, he began to tell the story again, this time with every single detail he could recall.

 **And there it is, a cliffhanger. Next chapter will be showing what happened in Connor's village, including how he met Kane and Mars. Could take up to a week to rewrite, but I'll work as fast as I can without the quality dropping. Also, just wanna say thanks to everyone who's read this. 300 views is incredible by my standards. Also, if you want to join a discord RP server based on this story, search Outcasts and Outlaws RP on Discord.Me**


	8. Chapter 8- How It All Began

Outcasts and Outlaws

Chapter 8

How It All Began

 **Okay, this took way longer than I thought it would to complete. There's just been so many other things going on in my life over the past week that it took a while to find time to write the last part of this chapter. Anyway, this one finally goes into Connor's illusive past. Enjoy!**

Opening Music: RWBY OP 1

(Music starts, shows Connor in a red shirt kneeling behind a tall figure in a green cloak in front of him) (Connor raises his hand, a depressed look in his eye)

THEY SEE YOU AS SMALL AND HELPLESS!

(The figure's green cloak flaps in the wind)

THEY SEE YOU AS JUST A CHILD!

(Dark clouds start to form in Connor's eye, it being zoomed in on until he evaporated into dark clouds)

SURPRISE WHEN THEY FIND OUT THAT A WARRIOR WILL SOON RUN WILD!

[OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS]

PREPARE FOR YOUR GREATEST MOMENT!

(Shows Ruby in a training room with her scythe)

PREPARE FOR YOUR FINEST HOUR!

(Shows Connor standing in a tree wearing a long black coat)

THE DREAM THAT YOU'VE ALWAYS DREAMED

(Shows Yang on her bike)

IS SUDDENLY ABOUT TO FLOWER!

(Shows a horde of Grimm advancing)

WE ARE LIGHTNING!

(Shows Damien with Brook standing on one side of him, a shadowy figure on the other)

STRAYING FROM THE THUNDER!

(Connor looks behind him as a Grimm drops down and charges, but slashes past it)

MIRACLES OF ANCIENT WONDER!

(Shows Connor, Yang and Ruby charge in)

THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE WAITED FOR!

(Shows Connor standing in front of Beacon looking apprehensive)

THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE OPEN UP THE DOOR.

(Connor starts to fall forward)

I DON'T WANNA HEAR YOUR ABSOLUTION!

(Ozpin catches him and pulls him back up, then Team JNPR come to stand with him)

HOPE YOUR'E READY FOR A REVOLUTION!

(Shows Ozpin walking away from Connor with his Kane over his shoulder)

WELCOME TO A WORLD OF NEW SOLUTIONS!

(Zooms in on Ozpin's eye as a gold gear spins around in it)

WELCOME TO A WORLD OF BLOODY EVOLUTION!

(Shows Ruby, then Yang, then Ozpin, then a shadowy figure)

IN TIME, YOUR HEART WILL OPEN MINDS!

(Connor steps through the shadowy figure and draws his arm blades)

A STORY WILL BE TOLD!

(He does an epic pose)

AND VICTORY IS IN A SIMPLE SOUL!

[END]

As a child, Connor had been the odd one out. He lived in a small village situated on the border between Central Remnant and the desert territory to the east named Osiria. It was a humble village, a few wooden and clay houses spread throughout with a humble school and small market square. It was all Connor had ever known, so he had no dreams of a city life. What he did dream about however, was unlocking his semblance. By the time he was six, he was the only child in the village who hadn't done so. The other kids picked on him, threw stones and called him names. He learnt to ignore them, but he couldn't ignore the actions of his own parents. They tried their hardest to have faith in him, but before too long the other adults convinced even them that he wasn't worth their time. His generation was being relied on to become hunters and bring money back to the village, but he didn't look as if he was destined for that, so they practically ignored him. Apart from feeding him, he was left to his own devices, often told to go and play in the fields on the outskirts of the village. Little Connor was too naive to understand the dangers of this, not yet knowing of the Grimm that stalked the plains.

It was on a normal day that it all happened. Connor came out of school, took a few stones to the back, and met up with his father outside the gate. Years later, he couldn't remember his father's face, just that he was tall and barely ever spoke. This was one of the rare occasions when he did, to tell Connor to go play in the field again. Excited for his favourite pastime, where there was nothing or no one but his own imagination, he handed his backpack over and starting running out of the village gate.

Like everyday before that, he frolicked through the tall savannah grass, imagining what his semblance would one day be. The only way he could stave off the feeling of being left behind by the other kids was to hope he'd catch up one day. As he laughed and fell onto his back however, he saw something out of the corner of his eye that changed his life for the worse.

A trickle of fresh blood, seeping through the grass. He sat up before it touched his head and stared at it curiously. He knew what it was from when he had fallen over years ago, when his parents had still cared enough to help him back up, but he had a terrible feeling about where it was coming from. Out of pure curiosity, he followed the stream of red liquid. As he drew closer to the source, he could hear heavy breathing and the sound of someone shuffling through the grass. He stood up straight to get a look and his breath caught in his throat.

In front of him stood a teenager in simple black clothing, some body armour clinging to his shoulders and legs. His brow was covered in sweat and dirt, which also ran through his jet black hair. The blood, Connor soon realised, was coming from multiple cuts on the man's body, but mainly from an arm severed at the elbow, red gunk spilling out at a worrying rate. The man looked up when he realised Connor was there, his eyes hazy and his body shaking.

"Boy..." He said in a weak tone, seeming to be struggling to even get the words out. "My name is Kane...and I am going to die, unless you help me..." Connor shivered and took a step back, feeling as if the man was peering into his mind. "You don't have a semblance, do you? It's easy to tell." The man continued. "Let's have ourselves a little deal."

With that, the man reached into his pocket and pulled something out. When he opened his palm, it was revealed to be a small purple crystal, it's glow illuminating the quickly approaching night. "This...is the Kalos Crystal..." He explained, his voice becoming more and more croaky and strained. "With this, I can fuse our minds together, I can share your body. In exchange, I will grant you use of my semblance, which I promise will not disappoint you."

The man went silent, holding out the palm of his hand so Connor could get a good look at the crystal. It was a tiny thing, but he could tell it held so much power within it's form. The promise of a semblance was too tempting, the chance to be like the other kids. As he reached out with his own hand, small purple sparks of lightning began jumping off from the crystal's surface, the glow getting stronger. Still, he was determined to touch it. Something about it pulled him in, attracted him. There was a flash of purple light.

The next thing Connor knew, the man was gone, as well as the crystal. Looking down, he saw the blood was still staining the ground. Looking up, he saw the moon. How long had he been standing there that it was the middle of the night? He took off without another thought, thinking that maybe it had all been a figment of his imagination. If only.

When he reached his family's hut, he immediately saw that the door was ajar, a flickering light peeking through. Sneaking closer, he heard voices, three of them. He couldn't make out what they were saying and neither did he pay much attention to their faces, but he saw a hand on the floor beyond them, blood on the carpet. He pushed through before they knew he was there and, to his dismay, saw the bloody bodies of his parents.

The three men muttered amongst one another, trying to figure out where Connor had come from, what to do about it. Meanwhile, Connor held his mother's hand and began to sob. His head hurt, his stomach felt queazy. Through all that pain however, he felt a darkness brewing in the back of his mind.

In an instant, his emotions were replaced by anger, unstoppable fury. Only he wasn't the one in control of the anger, no one was. As he looked down at his body, he saw dark clouds creeping around him, coating his form like a shroud. The three men noticed this and paused in their conversation, seemingly recognising the affliction. Connor's head pounded. He felt an unfamiliar surge of energy pumping through his body. Then, in a flash, everything went to hell.

His house was the first to go. Massive tendrils of dark clouds sprouted out like the legs of a giant octopus, the villagers turning and looking, some already screaming. Before anyone could move, the tendrils came smashing down into the ground one after the other, seeking out anything that moved as their target. Once the villagers started running, the tendrils went for the buildings instead, levelling them in one fell swoop each. One tendril hit a gas canister, it exploding and setting it's surroundings alight. The flames quickly spread around the whole village. Those who weren't hunted by the dark clouds were burnt alive. In a mere few minutes, it seemed everyone in sight had become a corpse. Connor stumbled out of the ruins of his house, the dark clouds centred around him. His headache was killing him, but that was the least of his worries. He smelled the burning ash, heard the last few screams die out. He had no control over any of it, but everything was still his fault. He knew this, because he knew this was that man's semblance.

The three men ran out of the house and got to a safe distance, turning around once they were at the village gate. They looked at the destruction in horror. "What is this? What is that boy doing?" Yelled General Deagle, an older looking man with a short white beard, wearing a white military uniform.

"It looks like a semblance disruption. They occur when a person's semblance develops too fast for them to handle and goes out of control, often leading to temporary madness." Mars answered, a young man in a light green cloak with his hair dyed a matching colour. "We can't let this go on, he'll destroy more than just this village!"

As Mars took a bold step forward, intent on doing something, General Deagle put out an arm and stopped him. "Don't bother risking yourself just to be the hero. With one phone call, my army can be here to unleash all of it's firepower upon that monstrosity." He insisted, Mars' face turning to one with even more horror in it than before.

"You'll kill the boy! He is in once in all this! He needs, deserves treatment, just like anyone else!" Mars shouted back, immediately getting riled up by the threat. "I won't let you do it! I'm not your soldier, I don't have to obey you!"

General Deagle whipped a heavy pistol out from his jacket and pointed it at Mars without even looking, keeping his eyes on the destruction in case it came their way. "If you disagree with me so vehemently, perhaps you would like to join him?" The General threatened, Mars not believing what he was hearing.

"Now, now, Grandfather, let's not turn on each other." Ozpin spoke up from behind them, also staring gravely at the scene before them, but he maintained his composure. "Mars is right, this is not the boy's fault. He can be controlled and contained and Mars is just the person to do the job."

"Well, I disagree! That boy, as you call him- wait!" General Deagle started, but was interrupted by Mars making a mad dash towards the chaos. Deagle took aim at his back. "Damn it, Mars, I'll shoot!" His eyes widened however, when he felt something pressing up against his back, heard a safety being clicked off. He looked out of the corner of his eye to see Ozpin pressing the end of his cane to his back. "Ozpin, you've never once used that thing since I got it for you. I know you won't start now." Deagle said with confidence. "Against your own Grandfather, no less..."

"You're right. I'm not going to shoot. You shouldn't either. Just watch." Ozpin replied, still as calm as anything. "You never paid him much attention, but Mars is a top tier hunter. You'll see any moment now." Deagle simply grumbled and looked back at Mars, who had almost reached his target, and lowered his gun.

Once he was within range, the dark clouds almost reaching out to grab him, Mars put both his hands down on the ash covered ground and activated his semblance. In a flash, he created a massive dome of transparent green energy, trapping the dark clouds inside. Boosting himself with his aura, he began to run up the inclining edge. The dark clouds smashed at the walls from inside, but Ozpin, then looked straight at them and activated his semblance. A gold gear appeared in his eye and spun around, gaining speed. In sync with that, the dark clouds receded back to their previous position, as if they had been rewinded.

"Thanks for the assist!" Mars called back as he reached the top of the dome, flipping himself into a handstand. He saw Ozpin nod, then looked down at Connor below him, barely making out his figure amongst the dark clouds. "Sorry, kid. This is gonna hurt." He said, then pumped as much aura as he could through his hands and into the dome. Great flashes of the green energy filled the inside of the dome like lightning. Connor screamed, part of it being the darkness and the other being a child in pain. The shockwaves almost pushed Mars away, but he stayed true and kept going until the dark clouds died down, overpowered. Connor fell to his knees, Mars disassembled the dome and fell down next to him, catching the young boy before he hit the ground.

He held the boy to his chest as he slowly woke, his body stiff and sore. He couldn't speak a single word at first, but he didn't have to. Mars held his head closer and whispered to him. "It's all right. I'm here." He said. "I'll take care of you from now on."

And so it was.

END

 **And that is one of my all time favourite chapters, one of the classics. Anyway, the next chapter is the last one I have to rewrite and it goes into one last flashback about Connor, one that takes place right after Mars saves him from the King Tajitu. More action in that one too, so I'll get it done ASAP. Until then!**


	9. Chapter 9- The Temple Guardian

Outcasts and Outlaws

Chapter 9

The Temple Guardian

 **Yes, I know it's been a while since the last chapter. Life always gets busy around this time of year. Anyway, this is another flashback into Connor's life, this time with Mars. There's a little interaction with Team JNPR before that though.**

Music: RWBY OP 1

Music starts, shows Connor in a red shirt kneeling behind a tall figure in a green cloak in front of him) (Connor raises his hand, a depressed look in his eye)

THEY SEE YOU AS SMALL AND HELPLESS!

(The figure's green cloak flaps in the wind)

THEY SEE YOU AS JUST A CHILD!

(Dark clouds start to form in Connor's eye, it being zoomed in on until he evaporated into dark clouds)

SURPRISE WHEN THEY FIND OUT THAT A WARRIOR WILL SOON RUN WILD!

[OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS]

PREPARE FOR YOUR GREATEST MOMENT!

(Shows Ruby in a training room with her scythe)

PREPARE FOR YOUR FINEST HOUR!

(Shows Connor standing in a tree wearing a long black coat)

THE DREAM THAT YOU'VE ALWAYS DREAMED

(Shows Yang on her bike)

IS SUDDENLY ABOUT TO FLOWER!

(Shows a horde of Grimm advancing)

WE ARE LIGHTNING!

(Shows Damien with Brook standing on one side of him, a shadowy figure on the other)

STRAYING FROM THE THUNDER!

(Connor looks behind him as a Grimm drops down and charges, but slashes past it)

MIRACLES OF ANCIENT WONDER!

(Shows Connor, Yang and Ruby charge in)

THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE WAITED FOR!

(Shows Connor standing in front of Beacon looking apprehensive)

THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE OPEN UP THE DOOR.

(Connor starts to fall forward)

I DON'T WANNA HEAR YOUR ABSOLUTION!

(Ozpin catches him and pulls him back up, then Team JNPR come to stand with him)

HOPE YOUR'E READY FOR A REVOLUTION!

(Shows Ozpin walking away from Connor with his Kane over his shoulder)

WELCOME TO A WORLD OF NEW SOLUTIONS!

(Zooms in on Ozpin's eye as a gold gear spins around in it)

WELCOME TO A WORLD OF BLOODY EVOLUTION!

(Shows Ruby, then Yang, then Ozpin, then a shadowy figure)

IN TIME, YOUR HEART WILL OPEN MINDS!

(Connor steps through the shadowy figure and draws his arm blades)

A STORY WILL BE TOLD!

(He does an epic pose)

AND VICTORY IS IN A SIMPLE SOUL!

[END]

Connor was released from the infirmary the day after he was admitted, the doctors not being able to do anything for him until they could fit him into the surgery schedule. For the time being, he had a bandage diagonally covering the side of his head with the scarred eye. He was still getting used to the difference in his depth perception, but the doctors had assured him he would learn quickly, probably before his surgery.

He was hesitant to return to class, but Ozpin encouraged him to, so around midday he stumbled into Professor Port's class twenty minutes late, it being excuses to due obvious reasons. He glanced at Ruby and Yang as he walked to his seat, the elder giving him a warning glare. He was actually glad to be seated at a distance from them. Once he found his seat and sat in it, intent on not talking to anyone, his attention was grabbed by a noise to his immediate right. Turning his head, he reeled back at the sight of Nora getting right up in his face with a wide smile.

"What are you getting all scared for, you silly billy?" Nora said, trying to whisper. It was not exactly her specialty.

Connor didn't know how to put it at first, but he decided to just be blunt. "You and the rest of your team heard my story, you know what I did." He replied, looking away and sitting up straight. "Why are you talking to me?"

He heard shuffling in the row behind him, but didn't turn his head. "As it happens, Ozpin had a word with us about that. He said he saw it all." Said Pyrhaa's voice, sounding sincere. "I'm inclined to believe him. We all are."

Connor fought the urge to look around as he heard Ren and Jaune scooting up next to him, trying to make it seem like he was concentrating on the class. Weiss had just come down the steps to demonstrate her skills against a captured Grimm. "Why?" He simply asked.

"Well, you looked really upset trying to tell that story, like you regret it a lot." Jaune answered, keeping his voice down.

"Ozpin asked us to be here for you, make sure you have friends to talk to, so that you don't go running off. He said that's somewhat likely." Ren added. "What do you think? We can be here for you, help you through this."

Connor felt his throat dry up. These people who barely knew him were offering to be his friends just on the basis that Ozpin vouched for him? Just what had the old man told them? He had to close his eyes to stop himself from tearing up, taking a deep breath. "I'll try." He told them, keeping it short. Nora let out a celebratory sound, Professor Port scolding her from the front of the classroom, after which she covered her mouth with her hands and went quiet again. Connor couldn't help but smile. He had people willing to be his friends. Kane didn't seem to care. All that came out of him was a slight grunt.

Connor started paying attention to the class properly after that, watching was use a glyph to summon up a giant white knight in shining armour. He recognised it from somewhere, thinking he'd seen one similar to it somewhere before. Then, he remembered. He knight itself was designed after an ancient sentinel, but he had seen one whilst he had been with Mars. Just after the fight with the King Tajitu, in fact...

"That wasn't the guardian." Mars had said as the pair of them stood in the southern jungle, having just killed a giant King Tajitu. Connor looked confused, Mars seeing that as he looked over his shoulder, so he explained. "That was just an everyday Grimm. They're very common in these parts. The temple guardian is inside the temple itself." He pointed at the cavern, it's edges painted with runic symbols.

Connor glanced at the deadly snake's dead body. "So...is the temple guardian stronger than that thing?" He asked, slightly worried.

"Who knows? I certainly don't." Mars cryptically replied, but could see Connor wasn't satisfied with that. "If I had to guess, I'd say...it'll be stronger...probably..."

Connor gulped when he heard that. He had almost just died to the snake and the next opponent would potentially be more powerful. He couldn't help but be nervous.

 _"Man up, you pussy."_ Kane harshly told him.

"Shut up." Came the reply.

They soon started investigating the runes on the entrance to the cave. Mars recognised them as remnants of old glyphs, possibly once used as traps. _"They're still active."_ Kane commented.

"They're active." Mars repeated, as if he had read Connor's mind. He shot a quick look at Connor, looking right into his eyes, then turned and walked into the entrance to the cave. "Well, whatever it is, I'll deal with it. Come along."

Connor hurried after his mentor, keeping an eye out for any signs of booby traps on the walls, floor and ceiling. Mars probably had good enough reflexes to avoid them, but Connor was still just a child, merely eleven years old. He'd be skewered in an instant. Much to his surprise however, nothing happened. No pitfalls leading to spikes, no arrows shooting out to pierce them to a wall. He was beginning to think all of the things he had heard about temple exploring were utter nonsense.

Eventually, they came to a large square room that was fabulously decorated with patterned stone flooring, walls and a ceiling. In the centre of the room was a large circle of runes connected by a curving line of chalk. In the centre of that circle, sat a box on a pedestal. "That must be it!" Connor said with excitement, recklessly running forward and ignoring Mars' cries.

 _"Back."_ Was the only word Kane said, but that was warning enough. Connor jumped back as far as he could, then noticed the runes around the box were beginning to glow. The shine got more intense until a shape started to rise out of the floor. A massive knight in shining metal armour, holding a two handed stone sword, appeared next to the box, slamming the tip of his weapon down into the ground and taking a defensive stance.

"A white knight. They used to be summoned to guard places like this, so it isn't so surprised we'd find one here." Mars commented as he walked up beside Connor and admired it. "It did seem like someone had been here before us, else the runes out front would have triggered faster. Someone altered them to try to have time to grab the box before this big guy came along to stop them." He spent another second in awe of the creation, then crossed his arms and stepped back, nodding at Connor. "Well, he's all yours."

"What? You said you'd deal with any traps!" Connor recalled, feeling hesitant to fight such an impressive looking for.

"Yes, but this isn't a trap; it's a challenge. Take it." Mars responded, gesturing towards the knight. Connor realised he wasn't being given a choice, Mars wanted to test him. As reluctant as he was, he started sprinting back towards the box.

Kane gave him a boost when he drew near, exuding a few dark clouds from his feet to let him jump higher, right on to the top of the pedestal. He put his hand on the box to try to quickly nab it, but had to jump up as the knight's came slashing horizontally towards him. He swiftly swapped his arm blades into shotgun mode, aiming it at the knight's helmet and pulling the trigger. As he should have expected, the bullets bounced off the metal without leaving even a dent. In retaliation, the knight's free hand came in from the right, Kane pumping power into Connor's hand so that he could hold it back with dark clouds. The sword came in again from above however, Connor having to use all of his agility to flip up on top of the other arm. Once there, he leapt towards it's face and slammed a dark cloud covered fist into it, but again nothing happened. "Not good enough. It's armour's too thick!" Mars advised from below, but didn't any ideas of how to actually damage it. Before Connor could launch himself off of the knight's helmet, he found himself grabbed by it's free hand. As much as he struggled, he was unable to escape, it holding him up ceremoniously, as if it had just won a prize. "Come on, you can do better than that. Wriggle out!" Mars commented again, hands in his pockets as he watched the fight.

Spurred on, Connor let Kane take over for a split second, escaping from his captors grasp with a burst of dark clouds. A second later however, the sword came up again and slammed into him, pinning him to the ceiling and knocking the wind out of him. "Kane..." He begged, feeling a rib break, but it was all Kane could do to dull the pain. Connor's aura couldn't flow properly in that position.

"Well, looks like you're in a spot of bother." Mars said, seeing his apprentice wouldn't be getting out of that one. "I guess I'll have to help out after all." With that, he started running towards the knight, which lowered it's sword to pay attention to the new attacker. Connor started falling to the ground, but Mars pointed a hand that way and constructed a platform of green, translucent energy for him to land on. He then turned his attention to the knight, it's massive sword being swung his way. With great agility, he ducked under it and concentrated some aura in his hand, slashing past the knight with a quickly constructed green sword. The knight went stiff for a moment, then shook as if possessed. A second later, green light began pouring out of the cracks in the armour, the shaking intensifying until it began to fall apart. In just a few seconds, the armour lay unmoving on the floor in many pieces.

As Mars dispelled his sword, Connor looked down in amazement. His own attacks had barely grazed the knight, but Mars had annihilated it with one strike. What's more, it felt like only a small portion of his power. Connor carefully lowered himself off of the platform, holding his side as he and Mars walked back over to the box. "Now then, let's see if it's really here." Mars muttered, opening the lid.

Inside of the box sat a brilliant purple gem, barely bigger than a grape in size. Connor stared at it in awe, amazed to finally see the crystal in the flesh, but Mars was less impressed. He took the crystal out and promptly crushed it in his fist, it turning to dust and seeping through his fingers. "What the hell did you do that for?! We finally found it and you do that?!" Connor exclaimed.

"That was a fake. The real thing wouldn't have been crushed so easily." Mars replied, seeing Connor's shoulders sag in disappointment. "Someone must have been here before he, taken the real thing and replaced it with this. I'd bet they disabled the traps while they were in here and didn't have to fight big boy knight over there."

Connor looked down at the floor, almost biting through his tongue out of frustration. They'd come all that way just for a fake. "So, what now? The trail's gone cold." He asked, downtrodden.

"Worry not, Connor. All we need do is find whoever took the genuine article." Mars reassuringly answered, Connor looking up to see a confident grin on his face. "I know it may be hard, but we'll track them down. We made a promise didn't we? That we'd find the Kalos Crystal and use it's power to painlessly separate you and Kane. I intend to keep that promise. You still with me?"

Connor had to wipe away a tear, ignoring Kane telling him to man up. "Yeah, I'm still with you." He replied, feeling his heart swell. "Let's find it. Let's find the Kalos Crystal."

END OF CHAPTER 9

 **So I now have all of the missing chapters rewritten, so I should be able to go back to uploading two or three chapters of this a day. I'm also going to be uploading chapters for my Kuroko's Basketball fanfic, Through The Hoop, so I'd appreciate people going and checking that out as I really enjoy writing it. I'm also going to be continuing from where I left off working on Volume 5 of O and O. Until next time!**


	10. Chapter 10- Birthday Celebrations

Outcasts and Outlaws

Chapter 10

Birthday Celebrations

 **All right so this is the first of many chapters in a two or three a day spree that I'm going to do in order to catch up to where I've currently written up to. Just a thing before it starts. Please keep in mind whilst reading that I wrote this volume three years ago, so not only have my writing skills improved, I've also gotten better with backstories and what not. That said, I love using tragic backstories even though it's cliche, just because I like my characters to have something like that happen to them as a reality check. People die, in this AU it can happen fairly regularly as Remnant is a dangerous place. Also, I write this CASUALLY, not proffesionally. I have fun writing it and worrying too much about whether it's cliche or not takes that fun away from it. This is a hobby. Anyway, enough serious talk, onto the chapter!**

Opening Music: RWBY OP 1

(Music starts, shows Connor in a red shirt kneeling behind a tall figure in a green cloak in front of him) (Connor raises his hand, a depressed look in his eye)

THEY SEE YOU AS SMALL AND HELPLESS!

(The figure's green cloak flaps in the wind)

THEY SEE YOU AS JUST A CHILD!

(Dark clouds start to form in Connor's eye, it being zoomed in on until he evaporated into dark clouds)

SURPRISE WHEN THEY FIND OUT THAT A WARRIOR WILL SOON RUN WILD!

[OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS]

PREPARE FOR YOUR GREATEST MOMENT!

(Shows Ruby in a training room with her scythe)

PREPARE FOR YOUR FINEST HOUR!

(Shows Connor standing in a tree wearing a long black coat)

THE DREAM THAT YOU'VE ALWAYS DREAMED

(Shows Yang on her bike)

IS SUDDENLY ABOUT TO FLOWER!

(Shows a horde of Grimm advancing)

WE ARE LIGHTNING!

(Shows Damien with Brook standing on one side of him, a shadowy figure on the other)

STRAYING FROM THE THUNDER!

(Connor looks behind him as a Grimm drops down and charges, but slashes past it)

MIRACLES OF ANCIENT WONDER!

(Shows Connor, Yang and Ruby charge in)

THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE WAITED FOR!

(Shows Connor standing in front of Beacon looking apprehensive)

THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE OPEN UP THE DOOR.

(Connor starts to fall forward)

I DON'T WANNA HEAR YOUR ABSOLUTION!

(Ozpin catches him and pulls him back up, then Team JNPR come to stand with him)

HOPE YOUR'E READY FOR A REVOLUTION!

(Shows Ozpin walking away from Connor with his Kane over his shoulder)

WELCOME TO A WORLD OF NEW SOLUTIONS!

(Zooms in on Ozpin's eye as a gold gear spins around in it)

WELCOME TO A WORLD OF BLOODY EVOLUTION!

(Shows Ruby, then Yang, then Ozpin, then a shadowy figure)

IN TIME, YOUR HEART WILL OPEN MINDS!

(Connor steps through the shadowy figure and draws his arm blades)

A STORY WILL BE TOLD!

(He does an epic pose)

AND VICTORY IS IN A SIMPLE SOUL!

[END]

A few weeks passed after the incident in Vale. Connor didn't speak to Yang or Ruby during that time, although his sources (Team JNPR) told him that Ruby wanted to speak to him. He never found the right moment though, Yang was always right there with her, like a sentinel. When he wasn't in class or trying to get a chance to speak with Ruby, he was spending time with Team JNPR. Since they didn't blame him for the incident in the village, he took it as a chance to make some friends. He grew especially close to Jaune and Ren, the two boys of the group, and spent a lot of his time hanging out with them. Nora seemed to grow very friendly towards him. Ren had said she'd confided in him that she 'kinda likes' Connor, but he wasn't interested and so he just ignored her. Kane had grown quiet recently, barely ever speaking, but when he did, Connor replied to him out loud. Now that everyone knew about him and Kane, there wasn't any reason to hide it.

On one of these days, Connor was on his way to the hall for his usual lunch with Team JNPR. Lost in thought, he didn't notice Ruby walking up the corridor towards him until she spoke.

"Connor?"

Connor awoke from his thoughts and noticed Ruby standing next to, looking up at him hopefully. He was lost for words, the perfect opportunity has arisen. Yang was nowhere to be seen.

"I...spoke to Pryhaa about the thing..." Ruby said nervously, twiddling her fingers and hoping that Connor wouldn't be mad. "She said that it wasn't your fault." She continued.

Connor looked right into her eyes, waiting for what she was going to say next. The tension was unbelievable. Would she trust him? Or was his chance to get back his first true friend ruined?

Ruby looked at him, right into his eyes and said, "I believed her."

Connor's eyes sparkled as he looked into Ruby. Before he knew what he was doing, he had embraced in a tight hug and was getting teary eyed.

"That means so much to me." He told her. "It means so much that you trust me."

Still in the embrace, Ruby blushed and smiled whilst Connor let out some tears. Ruby rested her head on his shoulder and asked, "Why am I so important to you, Connor?"

Feeling her head on his shoulder, Connor felt slightly unnerved and replied, "You're the first person who was really like a friend to me."

Hearing that, Ruby smiled and held Connor closer, closing her eyes.

"Well, look at you two lovebirds." Came a voice from somewhere. Connor recognised it immediately, Ozpin.

Ruby and Connor parted and saw Ozpin standing next to them in the corridor, smirking slightly. It was a rare occasion to see Ozpin let out a smile, and it unnerved Connor even more.

"I should go." Ruby quietly announced, "Yang's waiting for me."

Ruby slunk off silently, holding her blushing face in her hands, which were also red. When she was gone, Ozpin spoke.

"So...you two, huh?" He said playfully, causing Connor to turn a little red and scowling at the headmaster.

"Whatever. I'm going to lunch." He announced, walking away from Ozpin, changing his facial expression to a smile as he went.

"That boy really is progressing well." Ozpin thought to himself, before taking another sip of his coffee and saying, "Happy Birthday, Mr. Kodomo."

After having lunch with Team JNPR, telling them about his encounter with Ruby in the corridor and thanking Pyrhaa for talking to her, Connor headed for the library to study up on Grimm hunting strategies. When he arrived there, he instantly lay eyes on Blake and Weiss sitting at a table reading. They saw him too, but ignored him. Blake and Weiss had accepted that it wasn't Connors fault, but after a talking to by Yang, hadn't spoken to Connor since. Connor sat down with a book and began his studying session.

Connor awoke many hours later, his face in the middle of an open book.

 _"Wake up, you're going to miss your birthday party."_

Connor lifted up his head groggily, still half asleep, his face numb from sitting in the book for many hours.

"What birthday party?" Connor asked Kane. He hadn't told anyone it was his birthday today, so who was throwing him a party?

 _"Ozpin told Team JNPR it's your birthday, they're in your room."_ Kane explained, making Connor groan. He hated having people in his room, he'd grown used to it being a private space.

Connor got up, left the book open on the table and walked out of the library to his room. When he reached the door, he put his ear to it and heard nothing.

"I don't hear them." He told Kane, who replied, _"Trust me, they're in there."_

Connor put a hand on the door handle, and braced himself for whatever was beyond the wooden barrier in between him and his supposedly private space. When he opened the door he was greeted with the sound of the happy birthday song sung by Team JNPR and Ruby. He was immediately grabbed by Nora, who attempted to steal a kiss, but much to her disappointment and to Ruby's relief, was pulled off by Ren.

Everyone in the room was sat in a circle on the carpet, and so Connor joined the circle, sitting in between Ruby and Jaune. He looked to his left and smiled at Ruby, her face beaming back at him. He felt so happy that everyone had gone out of their way to prepare a surprise for him, he finally felt like he had a home with people he could call friends.

Noticing Ruby and Connor smiling at each other, growing jealous, Nora stood up and announced that it was time to exchange presents. She handed over here to Connor first, bubbling with joy. When he unwrapped it, he saw that it was a small silver bear pendant. He thanked Nora and slung it around his neck.

After Nora's pendant, Connor received a book on bird keeping from Ren as well as a related present from Jaune, a parrot. Pyrhaa had been the one to buy him a cage for it as well as some starting materials for it such as food. Connor carefully placed the parrot in its cage and vowed to look after it well, then named it Mars, after his old mentor.

While Mars the parrot chirped away in its new home, Ruby handed Connor a small box, which he unwrapped and opened quickly. He put his hand inside it and pulled out a black eyepatch.

"I thought it would look better than those bandages." Ruby explained, hoping he would like it. "Plus, it goes with the parrot."

Connor unwrapped his bandages, revealing for a short moment his scarred left eye, and put on the black eyepatch. Everyone observed his new look in awe.

"That looks pretty cool." Jaune commented, warranting a smile from Connor and a squawk from Mars the parrot. Connor looked over to Ruby, he held up a small mirror and admired the eyepatch.

"Thanks a lot, Rubes." He said, not noticing that he had just used the nickname that only Yang usually called Ruby by. Ruby didn't seem to mind though, she simply smiled back at Connor, making Nora green with envy.

"We were going to take a trip into town as well," Ren announced, "But it's much too dark now."

Nora chirped up and exclaimed, "Let's go anyway, it'll be fun!"

Ren was about to explain to Nora the dangers of walking around in Vale in the middle of the night, but Connor suggested that that they all take their weapons along, and that seemed to calm him down.

Team JNPR and Ruby all went back to their rooms to get ready, and left Connor to contemplate. "All around, not a bad first birthday party." He thought. He then got up and adjusted his gauntlets, making sure he could activate them at a moment s notice and set out into the corridor thinking about how great it was to be able to hang out with Ruby once again.

 **I haven't looked at the actual word count, but I feel like this is kinda short. Still, I like to have a shorter one every so often to vary it up a bit, takes less time too. Anyway, it hardly matters since I'm gonna be uploading so many of these a day. Until the next one!**


	11. Chapter 11- The Outlaws Return

Outcasts and Outlaws

Chapter 11

The Outlaws Return

 **Okay, so this chapter will introduce another villain, one that will have a place in the next few volumes. He has quite the past, but that won't come until later. Even now, I've yet to write the spin off that tells his story in its entirety, but anyway, enjoy this one! Also, I can't remember if I mentioned this before in one of these chapters, but if you like basketball and anime, please go check out my Kuroko no Basket fanfic, Through The Hoop, which involves lots of action packed games.**

Opening Music: RWBY OP 1

(Music starts, shows Connor in a red shirt kneeling behind a tall figure in a green cloak in front of him) (Connor raises his hand, a depressed look in his eye) THEY SEE YOU AS SMALL AND HELPLESS! (The figure's green cloak flaps in the wind) THEY SEE YOU AS JUST A CHILD! (Dark clouds start to form in Connor's eye, it being zoomed in on until he evaporated into dark clouds) SURPRISE WHEN THEY FIND OUT THAT A WARRIOR WILL SOON RUN WILD! [OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS] PREPARE FOR YOUR GREATEST MOMENT! (Shows Ruby in a training room with her scythe) PREPARE FOR YOUR FINEST HOUR! (Shows Connor standing in a tree wearing a long black coat) THE DREAM THAT YOU'VE ALWAYS DREAMED (Shows Yang on her bike) IS SUDDENLY ABOUT TO FLOWER! (Shows a horde of Grimm advancing) WE ARE LIGHTNING! (Shows Damien with Brook standing on one side of him, a shadowy figure on the other) STRAYING FROM THE THUNDER! (Connor looks behind him as a Grimm drops down and charges, but slashes past it) MIRACLES OF ANCIENT WONDER! (Shows Connor, Yang and Ruby charge in) THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE WAITED FOR! (Shows Connor standing in front of Beacon looking apprehensive) THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE OPEN UP THE DOOR. (Connor starts to fall forward) I DON'T WANNA HEAR YOUR ABSOLUTION! (Ozpin catches him and pulls him back up, then Team JNPR come to stand with him) HOPE YOUR'E READY FOR A REVOLUTION! (Shows Ozpin walking away from Connor with his Kane over his shoulder) WELCOME TO A WORLD OF NEW SOLUTIONS! (Zooms in on Ozpin's eye as a gold gear spins around in it) WELCOME TO A WORLD OF BLOODY EVOLUTION! (Shows Ruby, then Yang, then Ozpin, then a shadowy figure) IN TIME, YOUR HEART WILL OPEN MINDS! (Connor steps through the shadowy figure and draws his arm blades) A STORY WILL BE TOLD! (He does an epic pose) AND VICTORY IS IN A SIMPLE SOUL! [END]

Team JNPR, Ruby and Connor stood in the central plaza of Vale in the middle of the night. Pitch black darkness covered the city, the moons light barely illuminating it. Connor stood by Ruby, still wearing his eyepatch and pendant, looking into the darkness.

Ren stepped forward out of the darkness. His weapon, an automatic pistol with a dagger attached to the clip which he called stormflower, hanging on his belt. "Now what do we do?"

Ruby chipped in excitedly, "Let's go to the magazine shop!" She pointed at the magazine shop in the plaza, the same one that they'd been in when Brook had attacked. Connor was surprised it was open this late, but he knew Ruby loved her weapon magazines, so he agreed to go inside.

As they went in, a man watched them from the shadows on the other side of the plaza. Barely visible in the dark, he wore a brown jacket over a white shirt. His brown hair was quite a mess and was starting to grey, and his face was riddled with dirt, scars and stubble. He had a weapon belt around his waist with two flintlock pistols in the sheaths.

The man watched for a while as he waited for the group to come back out, as he did so, his apprentice came around the corner holding a burger box.

"Here's your stupid burger, sir." Brook snarled, clearly disrespecting his mentor. He stuck out the burger box, his hooks stabbed into the bottom of it for grip. The man took his burger out of the box and tucked into it, sauces dribbling down his chin.

"You could've gotten me a napkin." The man said, speaking in a deep but somehow soft voice.

"Damien." Brook said, grabbing his attention. Damien turned his head to his apprentice, chewing his burger ravenously. "What?" He asked.

"Where's the boy?" Brook asked, gritting his teeth in anger. If he had fists, would've clenched them. Instead, his hooks hung uselessly at his sides.

"He just went into that shop over there." He replied bluntly, nodding his head at the magazine shop. Brook immediately dropped the box he was holding in his hooks and walked out into the light of the plaza, towards the magazine shop.

"Brook!" Damien yelled, trying to call him back. "Stop! I order you not to kill him! There's another way!"

Brook stopped in the middle of the plaza and turned around. "Screw you, old man!" He shouted back at Damien. "Your way isn't working! I have to kill him!"

Damien stepped out of the shadows and continued to argue with Brook. "You're crazy! Why is murder the first thing you think of?!"

At that point in the argument, Connor, Ruby and Team JNPR came back out of the magazine shop and Connor immediately noticed Brook and recognised him. He flicked out his blades, holding them in front of his face and bracing himself. Brook rushed forward instinctively, ready to slash with his hooks. He came to a stop however, when a katana blade blocked his path at throat level. He looked to his right and saw his master, Damien, holding one of pistols in his hand. Attached to the end of the pistol was a long katana blade, which was now positioned in front of Brooks throat.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Brook asked him furiously, fuming at his master.

"I told you not to kill him, there's another way." Damien replied.

Team JNPR stared at the scene in front of them, all incredibly confused, not knowing who either of the two men were. Connor kept his blades in front of his face, just as confused as Team JNPR but not wanting to drop his guard. Ruby shifted a little closer to Connor, knowing full well the danger they were in.

"Allow me to introduce myself." Damien announced, surprisingly politely. "I am Damien, ex leader of the rebel band known as the Outlaws."

Connor suddenly remembered what he'd read in the magazine the day he first met Brook. Damien was the leader of the Outlaws once upon a time. A gang of rebels that eventually gathered a small army to fight for them, but we're taken down. This man and Brook were the only survivors and they were both wanted for treason. This guy was dangerous.

"Despite my comrades attitude, I have no wishes to kill you." Damien explained. "I'm not the kind of guy that kills when there's other options."

Connor didn't know whether to trust him. He had protected them from Brook, but he'd also been responsible for a small scale civil war.

"The reason Brook wants to kill you,"

He continued, seeing their distrust, "Is to get to Kane."

Connor almost jumped out of his own skin, he dropped his guard and stepped back. This prompted a movement from Brook, who was once again blocked by Damien's blade.

"Allow me to explain." Damien said. "A long time ago, at the mere age of 13, Kane joined the Outlaws. He was a child prodigy and so we hired him for our army."

"Shut the hell up." Kane said, but of course only Connor heard him. Kane hadn't ever spoken about his past, and now he seemed reluctant to let the truth come out.

"When we were coming up with ways to win the war, we got our hands on something of immense value. The Kalos Crystal." Connor tensed up upon hearing that. The crystal that he and Mars had looked for had once been in Damien's possession. He could only imagine what terrible things he could've done with it to win the war.

"Unfortunately, as soon as we got the crystal Kane thought he'd like to have it to himself!" Damien continued, now losing his politeness and speaking in an angry snarl. "He murdered two of my men and stole the crystal, then fled with one arm cut off at the elbow!"

Connor, Ruby and Team JNPR froze. Connor now understood why Kane had been so beat up that day in the field, and how he'd gotten the crystal. He killed for it. For power.

"Run. Run now." Kane pleaded, but Connor stayed put as Damien continued.

"Since then, Brook and I have spent our days searching for Kane, and we've finally found him." Damien announced, composing himself and going back to being polite. "He needs to pay for what he did. So hand him over. I know you can eject him from your body of you want to. Do it now, give us Kane."

When Damien's speech came to a close, he lowered his blade from Brooks neck. He didn't move, however, he simply stood and stared at Connor awaiting his response. Team JNPR all put their hands on their weapons, ready to fight if they had to. They now understood the severity of the situation. Ruby stood behind Connor and looked up at him, hoping he had had some sort of plan. Connor looked down at the floor, desperately trying to think of what he should do. After a short while, Damien grew impatient and asked, "So what do you say?"

Connor snapped his head sharply, with a wild look on his face and yelled, "Screw you!" Then he placed his hand on the ground as it pulsed with a dark aura, exploding the ground beneath him and sending black smoke all over the plaza. Damien and Brook both coughed loudly while Team JNPR and Ruby covered their mouths.

"Where is he?!" Brook shouted as the smoke cleared. He was answered by a small rock smashing into the back of his head and leaving a small bruise. He and Damien turned around and saw Connor standing on a rooftop, his long black coat flapping in the wind, the moon shining behind him. His eyes were pitch black, just like they were when Kane destroyed the village.

"You think I'd just give up Kane?!" He yelled down at them. "He may be an asshole, and he may have ruined my childhood, but I've been with him for 8 years and in that time I've come to respect him! I'd never sell him to out to you!" As he stopped speaking, the dark aura crawled up his arms and surrounded the rest of his body, he coat flapped even more brilliantly than before and the moons light illuminated his outline.

"My name is Connor Hikaru-Kodomo, and I'm gonna kill you!"

 **Ah, I remember writing that line. It's simple, but it gave me joy. Anyway, the next chapter will have some action in it. Until then!**


	12. Chapter 12- Control, Fighting In Unison

Outcasts and Outlaws

Chapter 12

Control, Fighting In Unison

 **This one seems like it's pretty short, maybe the shortest one yet, so I'll upload another straight after this to make up for it. Also starting to get kinda close to the end of this volume. I'd say we're about 75% of the way through at the moment.**

Opening Music: RWBY OP 1

(Music starts, shows Connor in a red shirt kneeling behind a tall figure in a green cloak in front of him) (Connor raises his hand, a depressed look in his eye) THEY SEE YOU AS SMALL AND HELPLESS! (The figure's green cloak flaps in the wind) THEY SEE YOU AS JUST A CHILD! (Dark clouds start to form in Connor's eye, it being zoomed in on until he evaporated into dark clouds) SURPRISE WHEN THEY FIND OUT THAT A WARRIOR WILL SOON RUN WILD! [OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS] PREPARE FOR YOUR GREATEST MOMENT! (Shows Ruby in a training room with her scythe) PREPARE FOR YOUR FINEST HOUR! (Shows Connor standing in a tree wearing a long black coat) THE DREAM THAT YOU'VE ALWAYS DREAMED (Shows Yang on her bike) IS SUDDENLY ABOUT TO FLOWER! (Shows a horde of Grimm advancing) WE ARE LIGHTNING! (Shows Damien with Brook standing on one side of him, a shadowy figure on the other) STRAYING FROM THE THUNDER! (Connor looks behind him as a Grimm drops down and charges, but slashes past it) MIRACLES OF ANCIENT WONDER! (Shows Connor, Yang and Ruby charge in) THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE WAITED FOR! (Shows Connor standing in front of Beacon looking apprehensive) THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE OPEN UP THE DOOR. (Connor starts to fall forward) I DON'T WANNA HEAR YOUR ABSOLUTION! (Ozpin catches him and pulls him back up, then Team JNPR come to stand with him) HOPE YOUR'E READY FOR A REVOLUTION! (Shows Ozpin walking away from Connor with his Kane over his shoulder) WELCOME TO A WORLD OF NEW SOLUTIONS! (Zooms in on Ozpin's eye as a gold gear spins around in it) WELCOME TO A WORLD OF BLOODY EVOLUTION! (Shows Ruby, then Yang, then Ozpin, then a shadowy figure) IN TIME, YOUR HEART WILL OPEN MINDS! (Connor steps through the shadowy figure and draws his arm blades) A STORY WILL BE TOLD! (He does an epic pose) AND VICTORY IS IN A SIMPLE SOUL! [END]

"So what do you say?"

Connor snapped his head sharply, with a wild look on his face and yelled, "Screw you!" Then he placed his hand on the ground as it pulsed with a dark aura, exploding the ground beneath him and sending black smoke all over the plaza. Damien and Brook both coughed loudly while Team JNPR and Ruby covered their mouths.

"Where is he?!" Brook shouted as the smoke cleared. He was answered by a small rock smashing into the back of his head and leaving a small bruise. He and Damien turned around and saw Connor standing on a rooftop, his long black coat flapping in the wind, the moon shining behind him. His eyes were pitch black, just like they were when Kane destroyed the village.

"You think I'd just give up Kane?!" He yelled down at them. "He may be an asshole, and he may have ruined my childhood, but I've been with him for 8 years and in that time I've come to respect him! I'd never sell him to out to you!" As he stopped speaking, the dark aura crawled up his arms and surrounded the rest of his body, he coat flapped even more brilliantly than before and the moons light illuminated his outline.

"My name is Connor Hikaru-Kodomo, and I'm gonna kill you!"

"So what do you say?"

Connor snapped his head sharply, with a wild look on his face and yelled, "Screw you!" Then he placed his hand on the ground as it pulsed with a dark aura, exploding the ground beneath him and sending black smoke all over the plaza. Damien and Brook both coughed loudly while Team JNPR and Ruby covered their mouths.

"Where is he?!" Brook shouted as the smoke cleared. He was answered by a small rock smashing into the back of his head and leaving a small bruise. He and Damien turned around and saw Connor standing on a rooftop, his long black coat flapping in the wind, the moon shining behind him. His eyes were pitch black, just like they were when Kane destroyed the village.

"You think I'd just give up Kane?!" He yelled down at them. "He may be an asshole, and he may have ruined my childhood, but I've been with him for 8 years and in that time I've come to respect him! I'd never sell him to out to you!" As he stopped speaking, the dark aura crawled up his arms and surrounded the rest of his body, he coat flapped even more brilliantly than before and the moons light illuminated his outline.

"My name is Connor Hikaru-Kodomo, and I'm gonna kill you!"

Brook reacted quickly, pulling up his hooks and sending machine gun rounds out of the barrels hidden in them straight at Connor. Connor disappeared in a cloud of black smoke once again, dodging the gunfire. "Now where'd he go?!" Brook shouted into the night, and was immediately answered by Connors foot impacting with his left cheek, sending him flying across the plaza. Brook quickly stood up and ran at Connor, swinging his hooks wildly. Connor held up his blades to block the hooks and then pushed them off of him, following up with a slash that Brook barely dodged. Connor kept attacking, swinging his blades one after the other. Brook back stepped consecutively, and then blocked one blade with his hook and swung the other. Connor blocked the hit and the two of them pushed against each other's weapons in a test of strength. As they put all their strength into overpowering the other, Connors dark aura sent out a powerful burst, knocking Brook back.

Brook stood back up again, and crossed his hooks against each other. As he did so, multiple clones appeared around him, a part of his illusion semblance. The clones immediately charged at Ruby and Team JNPR, who drew their weapons in response. Pyrhaa blocked one hit with her shield and then stabbed her attacker with her spear, turning it to dust. Ren ran at another of the clones and flipped over its head, then sharply turned around and fired a barrage of bullets into its back. Nora was busy crushing others with her sledgehammer, turning them to dust one by one. Jaune was having a tough time fending off three clones with only his sword and shield, but Ruby sped past, slashing them with her scythe as she went.

Meanwhile, Connor charged at Brook, only to be stopped by Damien, who blocked with the katana blades on the end of his flintlock pistols. "Stop this Kane!" He said, "Just come quietly!"

Connor looked into Damien's eyes, showing him the darkness of his own and cried, "My name is Connor!" Before sending out another powerful pulse of darkness, sending Damien flying. Damien stood up and examined his weapon. The katana blade on one of them had broken clean off in the blast. He looked back at Connor and realised it wasn't Kane doing this, Connor was in complete control of the power, which made this fight very dangerous.

As the others began to thin out the small army of clones, Brook charged at Connor again, unleashing a barrage of attacks. Connor simply ducked and dodged all the attacks, then placed his hand on Brooks chest, sending him flying backwards into a wall. When he rose, he had blood running down his chest from his injuries. Damien looked at his bloody comrade and back to Connor. If Connor was truly in control of Kane's powers, then he and Brook didn't stand a chance. They be killed if they didn't get out of there.

Ren charged forward with the rest of his team close behind him, all intent on helping Connor, and fired his pistols rapidly. Damien stuck out a hand in front of him, stopping the bullets in mid air. Ren and his team came to a sharp halt, all wondering how he had done it.

"Now you gone and done it." Damien snarled, "Prepare to feel the wrath of my semblance!" Then he punched forward with his fist, sending the bullets flying back towards Ren at twice the speed. Connor quickly assembled a wall of darkness, destroying the projectiles as they made impact. He then clenched his first, sending the darkness straight at Damien who, with no time to dodge, was pushed back into the same wall his partner had been knocked into. Damien quickly regained his posture and pointed his flintlock pistol directly at Connor, and Connor raised a hand surrounded by the dark aura in the same manner.

Just as it seemed they were in a standoff, a brilliant white light hit the plaza, blinding Connor and Damien. Military soldiers in white uniforms filed out onto the plaza, and pointed their rifles at Connor and Damien. Behind them stood a massive mechanical robot operates by a single soldier sitting inside. It was equipped with rocket launchers and a machine gun, they were in big trouble.

"Someone must have spotted us fighting and called the authorities." Kane muttered to Connor, who instantly agreed. "We need a way out of this." He replied, and Kane showed him a way. Smiling at Kane's plan, Connor walked towards the enormous robot with his hands behind his back.

"Stay back!" The soldier operating the robot ordered, "Get on the ground!"

Connor smiled again, so confident of the plan. As soon as the army robot took a step towards him, he released a burst of dark energy behind him, sending a black smoke around the plaza.

The military bot activated its laser trackers, trying to see through the smoke. Connor however, was already somewhere they'd never find him.

The pilot of the machine suddenly thought to look up and spotted Connor falling through the sky towards him. He raised the machines rocket launcher only to have it cut to pieces by a thrown blade from Connor. Connor then plummeted down from the sky and smashed into the robot, sending a pulse of dark energy through it, causing it to explode. When the smoke cleared, the rest of the soldiers looked around for their targets, but it was no use. Thanks to Kane's plan, they were already off into the night.

 **Like I said, I'll have another one coming I many minute now!**


	13. Chapter 13- Grimm VS Everyone

Outcasts and Outlaws

Chapter 13

Grimm VS Everyone

 **Fun fact: This chapter was originally intended as a New Years Special, as I first wrote it at the end of 2014. This one's full of action, but might also be on the short side, so I'll upload one more chapter later tonight.**

Opening Music: RWBY OP 1

(Music starts, shows Connor in a red shirt kneeling behind a tall figure in a green cloak in front of him) (Connor raises his hand, a depressed look in his eye)

THEY SEE YOU AS SMALL AND HELPLESS!

(The figure's green cloak flaps in the wind)

THEY SEE YOU AS JUST A CHILD!

(Dark clouds start to form in Connor's eye, it being zoomed in on until he evaporated into dark clouds)

SURPRISE WHEN THEY FIND OUT THAT A WARRIOR WILL SOON RUN WILD!

[OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS]

PREPARE FOR YOUR GREATEST MOMENT!

(Shows Ruby in a training room with her scythe)

PREPARE FOR YOUR FINEST HOUR!

(Shows Connor standing in a tree wearing a long black coat)

THE DREAM THAT YOU'VE ALWAYS DREAMED

(Shows Yang on her bike)

IS SUDDENLY ABOUT TO FLOWER!

(Shows a horde of Grimm advancing)

WE ARE LIGHTNING!

(Shows Damien with Brook standing on one side of him, a shadowy figure on the other)

STRAYING FROM THE THUNDER!

(Connor looks behind him as a Grimm drops down and charges, but slashes past it)

MIRACLES OF ANCIENT WONDER!

(Shows Connor, Yang and Ruby charge in)

THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE WAITED FOR!

(Shows Connor standing in front of Beacon looking apprehensive)

THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE OPEN UP THE DOOR.

(Connor starts to fall forward)

I DON'T WANNA HEAR YOUR ABSOLUTION!

(Ozpin catches him and pulls him back up, then Team JNPR come to stand with him)

HOPE YOUR'E READY FOR A REVOLUTION!

(Shows Ozpin walking away from Connor with his Kane over his shoulder)

WELCOME TO A WORLD OF NEW SOLUTIONS!

(Zooms in on Ozpin's eye as a gold gear spins around in it)

WELCOME TO A WORLD OF BLOODY EVOLUTION!

(Shows Ruby, then Yang, then Ozpin, then a shadowy figure)

IN TIME, YOUR HEART WILL OPEN MINDS!

(Connor steps through the shadowy figure and draws his arm blades)

A STORY WILL BE TOLD!

(He does an epic pose)

AND VICTORY IS IN A SIMPLE SOUL!

[END]

It had been a few weeks since the incident in Vale, and everything had returned to normal, or at least as close to normal as possible. Connor continued to hang out with Team JNPR and Ruby, and Yang continued to hate his guts. Ozpin kept a close eye on Connor, and he noticed. He'd see Ozpin standing at the back of classrooms or in the lunch hall, he even ran into him in the hallways where he made excuses. Connor wasn't fooled, he knew he was being observed for signs that Kane was breaking through. Ozpin thought that because of what happened that night in Vale, Connor was losing grip on his control over Kane's powers, but he was wrong. For the first time ever, he had been completely in control, perhaps because he and Kane had both been targeting a similar objective and so they worked in unison. He tried not to dwell to much on this however, and just concentrate on enjoying his time with his friends.

The day was New Years Eve. Teams RWBY and JNPR had gone into Vale for the night and Connor had promised to catch up with them later, after he had done some work. On the rooftops of Vale, looking over the city of Vale, stood a man in a black cloak with his face hidden in the shadow of the hood. He looked down upon the city, scowling, waiting for his man to arrive. When his man finally did arrive, climbing into the rooftop via a ladder, he was holding a small black box with a dial on it.

"Here it is sir." He said walking forward with the box outstretched. "What's this thing gonna do?"

The cloaked man took the box from his man and looked closely at it, rubbing the dials with his fingers before responding in a deep voice. "When this dial is turned, a set of bombs in the city will explode, giving passage to the Grimm to enter the city and kill the boy."

"But sir." The man protested. "Wouldn't that kill everyone else in the city too?"

"I'll do anything to get that boy. To kill him." The cloaked man explained maliciously. "I don't care if the whole city dies along the way." He then held the box out to his man, signalling that he was to be the one to detonate the bombs.

"Sir...no." He protested. "I won't do it. I won't take all those innocent lives. Just let me kill the boy myself."

The cloaked man stared blankly into the distance, thinking over what had just been said. After a short silence he replied, "Your choice." Before cutting the other mans throat. As he fell to the ground clutching his bleeding neck, the cloaked man simply stood over him and said, "Can't get the staff these days." He reached down to the mans dead body and took the box, then stood overlooking the city once again as he stroked the dial with his fingers again.

"I wasn't even paying the poor bastard." He stated before grinning evilly and bursting into maniacal laughter and turning the dial.

As Team RWBY and JNPR came out of a shop, the ground began to shake. The force of an underground explosion shattered the street, leaving a gaping hole. More holes soon appeared across the city plaza and the surrounding streets and Grimm of all shapes and sizes filed out of them, ready to feast on the innocent.

The two teams drew their weapons, as Connor had recommended to carry them at all times in case Brook or Damien turned up. Ruby, Yang, Weiss and Blake stood in a circle wit their weapons raised and the Grimm charged.

Without hesitation, Ruby rushed forward, swiping at Grimm with her scythe. Yang followed up, firing shotgun shells through the air and punching away any Grimm that got too close. Weiss jumped from glyph to glyph, slashing and stabbing at passing Grimm and Blake cut the beasts into ribbons with her duel blades.

A Beowulf came charging out of the crowd at Jaune who raised his shield to block its claw. Pyrhaa jumped from the side and ran it through with her spear, and Nora smashed its skull with her sledgehammer whilst Ren held off another Beowulf coming up behind.

Damien and Brook walked through the streets of Vale, weapons at their sides. They hear screaming and see Grimm running down the streets in mass.

"What's he gone and done now?" Damien muttered, dreading the carnage to come. As Grimm approached them from the left, Brook charged at them, making clones of himself. The clones slashed and shot at the Grimm, quickly eliminating them. Damien walked forward casually until a trio of Ursa surrounded him. He put his hands on grips of his flintlock pistols, pulling them out slowly and pointing the sword end at the Grimm. When the first charged he pointed his gun at it, firing a gunpowder powered steel ball into its skull. Another charged on the other side and he ran past it, cutting with his katana blades. He then backflipped up to the Ursas head and cut its face into ribbons. The last charged at him and he shot it with both of his guns, then jumped up and speared its eyes with his swords, piercing its brain.

Back at Beacon, Connor was about to get on the airship to travel into Vale when the pilot told him of the attack and said it was unsafe. He thought of Ruby and the others and, knowing they needed help, told the pilot to fl him in.

Team RWBY once again stood in a circular formation, defending against the surrounding Grimm. A Grimm came down from the sky, smashing into the centre of the circle, separating the team. The Grimm was an enormous creature with no arms and massive legs and jaws. It walked towards Ruby with its mouth open, the rest of the team powerless to stop it.

A black streak in the sky, falling like a meteor. Fast, with no intention of stopping. It smashed into the ground between Ruby and the Grimm just as it lunged forward with its jaw. Ruby looked up from cowering behind the hands, searching for what had fallen from the sky.

As the dust cleared, the image revealed shocked Ruby. Connor had landed in front of the Grimm and its jaw had bitten down on his arm, which he held up in front of his face. Despite this, he didn't even wince. Like total badass.

Connor looked up at the creatures maw and said, "You can kill me, you can destroy this whole goddamn city...but you won't touch Ruby!!!" He yelled as he pushed his arm out of the grip of the creatures jaw, releasing a burst of energy as he did so, reducing the creature head to mush. He stood in front of the corpse for a while, breathing heavily and eying the rest of Team RWBY, then he turned to Ruby and embraced her in a tight hug. This supposed Ruby, but once again she returned it, both of them glad of each other's safety. After a short while of this, Ruby let go and looked at Connors arm, seeing that he was wearing his gauntlets. He'd protected his arm with it, otherwise he would've been mauled.

"I'm all right." He told her sincerely. "You?" Ruby silently nodded in reply. Connor had risked his life for her again. Looking up him, she felt a sudden urge to kiss him, not knowing where it came from. She put her hand on the arm she had assumed to be injured and stared up at his eyes.

"This is kinda awkward." Kane said to Connor, not having a clue what was going on. Connor didn't respond. He couldn't, he was paralysed with fear.

Yang saw the two looking at each other and walked over, feeling less mad than usual that they were together. As she strolled over, a Beowulf swung at her from the side and she knocked it out without even turning her head. When she reached the two, Connor expected her to throw a punch but instead she approached looking quite emotional.

She looked at Connor said, "I'm sorry. Ozpin talked to me about the thing and he convinced me it wasn't your fault."

Connor looked back at her, Ruby letting go of his arm and responded, "Ozpin talked to you?" What was the old man doing?

"You can hang out with Ruby now, I don't mind." Yang told him. "But no funny business." She snapped, pointing a finger at Connor.

"Got it." He responded. "No funny business." He then turned away and walked to the centre of the plaza, into the middle of the circle being formed by Teams JNPR and RWBY.

"So...a lot of Grimm here today." He said casually, acting cool even when the hundreds of Grimm closed in on the circle. "We should do something about it. Don't you think Kane?"

 _"Why should I care?"_ Kane questioned harshly, he didn't see any reason to get involved.

"Well, unless you want to die..." Connor muttered, convincing Kane otherwise. He immediately felt a surge of power going through him as the dark aura surrounded his body, stronger that ever before.

"What are you doing?" Weiss asked, slightly unnerved by the darkness surrounding Connors body.

Connor closed his eyes and then opened them again, brimming with darkness and said, "Keeping us alive."

He then smashed his hand into the concrete beneath him, creating a small crater around himself and sending hundreds of dark tendrils up into the sky. Each tendril bore down upon the body of a Grimm, killing them instantly and quickly moving onto another. Within minutes, the bodies of all the dead Grimm scattered the city streets.

Connor slumped down onto his knees, exhausted. Ruby and Yang walked out of the circle and stood on the edge of the plaza, looking out onto the sea of corpses.

"If he can do this, how can he not be dangerous?" Yang asked Ruby, interested to hear her opinion, but not angry.

"He in control of it." Ruby replied, looking up at her sister with tears in her eyes. Yang couldn't tell if they were tears of joy or sadness. "I...trust him with my life."

Either way, the tears broke Yang down. She submitted to Ruby's words and accepted her opinion. "Ok." She said quietly.

As Ruby and Yang stood there in the cold, Connor came up behind them and wrapped his arms around each of their shoulders, supporting himself on them. He hung his head down, panting, still tired from the excessive effort.

"Kane." He said out loud. "What time is it?"

Kane replied immediately, _"It is exactly 23:59 PM."_

Connor smiled and looked at Ruby, lifting himself up slightly but still supporting himself on the two girls shoulders. "It's about to be the new year." Ruby returned his smile and he said, "Happy new year Rubes."

"Happy new year, Connor."

 **And starting in the next chapter is the final stretch for this volume! I think there's about 3 or 4 chapters left. Looking back, I'm worried the ending isn't as well written as it could be, but I've decided to post it as it was originally written so I can work on brand new chapters.**


	14. Chapter 14- Romantic Endeavours

Outcasts and Outlaws

Chapter 14

Romantic Endeavours

 **Throughout the years of writing this story, I've become pretty attached to the relationship Connor and Ruby have. This chapter here is where I'd say it properly took off, so it's time for some FLUFF!**

Three weeks after the battle in Vale, in which Connor killed hundreds of Grimm, he laid on his bed exhausted. He'd used up a crazy amount of energy in the fight, and for a few days afterwards he could barely move. His recovery was slow. Ruby helped him around Beacon once he was well enough to stand and over the nexo couple of weeks, he began to walk around on his own. It was still difficult for him to get around with exhausting himself, but he could cope.

Connor opened his eyes and raised his head off of his pillow. He had fallen asleep in his white vest, his cloak hung up on the door and his eyepatch and pendant on the bedside table. He lifted himself up and sat on the the edge of the bed, feeling groggy.

"You're up late." Kane commented wryly as Connor put his eyepatch on over his scarred left eye. It didn't matter to Connor about waking up late. He'd been excused from classes on medical grounds for weeks. Ozpin wanted to give him time to recuperate.

Connor then put the silver bear pendant that Nora had brought him for his birthday all those weeks ago around his neck and stood up. He headed straight for the closed door and grabbed his cloak off of the hanger and then slipped it on, leaving it open. Before he opened the door, he decided to go and see Ruby, knowing she should be out of class by now.

As he left his room, Connor was met with a familiar face, Ozpin. He stood in the corridor outside Connors room drinking coffee, as if he had been waiting for him.

"Good morning Connor." He greeted politely. "I suppose you're wondering where the others are?"

Connor wondered what he meant by that. Were they not here? They should have been out of class by now.

"There was a meeting going on while you were sleeping." Ozpin explained. "It was about the annual Beacon dance."

A dance? Connor didn't like the sound of that. Not only had he never danced before and would probably suck at it, who the hell would go with him?

"I'm sure you'll be fine." Ozpin comforted. "Maybe you could ask Miss Rose to accompany you, I'm sure she'd be delighted."

Connor blushed a little at that and meekly replied, "We're just friends. Yang'd kick my ass if I asked Ruby."

"Oh please, she'd be on the floor in seconds." Kane boasted, boosting Connors confidence a little.

"I'd have to agree with Kane on that one." Ozpin agreed, before taking another sip of coffee. Connor grew even more confident with all of the support. Maybe he would ask Ruby.

Ozpin looked down into the contents of his mug disappointedly and quipped, "Oh, looks like I'm due for a refill. Good luck Connor." He then walked away, empty mug in hand, back to his office. Connor watched him leave, wondering why the old man had such an interest in him and then turned to the door of Team JNPRs room.

When he entered, wondering who was back from the meeting, he saw that only Jaune and Ren were in the room. The two of them were sat on beds on opposite sides of the room, and it looked as though Connor had interrupted a conversation.

"Hey Connor." Jaune greeted. "Are you feeling better?"

Connor walked further into the room and sat down next to Jaune before answering. "I'm a little better, yeah, but still tired." He told his two friends. "Where are the girls?"

"All 6 of them went into the library together." Ren explained, noticing that Connor still had Nora's bear pendant.

"What are doing in there?" Connor queried. "Terms almost over, they can't possibly have any work to do."

"They just said girly stuff." Replied Jaune. "Whatever that means."

"They're probably talking about who they're going to take to the dance."

Ren suggested, then asked Connor. "Are you taking Ruby?"

Connor flushed a little, swallowed nervously and stuttered out, "Maybe." His voice shook a little as he spoke and both Jaune and Ren could tell he was nervous about the whole thing. "I assume you're going with Nora?" He asked in return.

"Not that I have much choice in the matter." Ren joked. Jaune and Connor both knew Ren would have asked Nora anyway, but he would've liked to had a chance to ask her himself, rather than her persisting on it herself.

"Are you going with Pyrhaa?" Connor asked Jaune, curious to know of the progress between the two.

"Yeah." He replied, sounding a little disappointed. Seeing the confused look on Connors face, he explained, "I just don't know what's going on with us. I don't know if we're dating or just friends..." Jaune trailed off, thinking about the situation. Connor also contemplated the problem. According to Ruby, they had been getting on brilliantly since last years dance but had shown no signs of being a couple. No kisses, no hugs, not even holding hands. Connor was just as confused as Jaune.

Connor then heard footsteps from outside the door and stepped up to it to listen. He put his ear to the door, allowing Kane to get a good idea of who it was.

"It's Ruby." Kane stated. "She's back from the library." Connor then put his hand on the door handle, the news of his friends having dates spurring his confidence. "Yangs with her." Kane quickly warned, and Connor stepped back from the door. He couldn't ask Ruby with Yang right there, she'd be furious.

Connor then had an idea, and turned to his two friends for help.

Ruby and Yang stood outside the door to their room. They had come back ahead of the other girls because Yang wanted to have a discussion about who Ruby was going to the dance with. Nora had brought up the topic and Yang got a little edgy. As they were about to enter the room, Ren and Jaune stepped out of theirs.

"Hey you two." Ruby greeted, smiling. "Is Connor up?"

"Uh..we need to talk to Yang." Jaune nervously said. "It's important."

Yang put her hands on her hips, feeling a little suspicious. "What could be so important that is abandon my little sister?"

Jaune and Ren looked at each other nervously, desperately trying to come up with something. Then Jaune blurted out, "Ren has feelings for Nora!" Causing Ren to scream mentally.

Yang removed her hands from her hips and wrapped her hands around the shoulders of the two boys. "Tell me all about it." She said in a cheeky voice, wanting to take the opportunity to tease Ren. As they left, Connor came out of the room, Kane having told him the coast was clear.

"There you are!" Ruby said. "I was wondering if you were up yet."

"Listen Ruby." Connor said, getting straight to the chase. He was worried that if he delayed too long his nerves would prevent him from being able to ask her. Also, he had no idea how long Ren and Jaune could hold off Yang. "I was wondering if you..." He started, trailing off as he looked at Ruby, for the first time noticing how pretty she was. Her red hair, her glistening eyes. Connor swallowed nervously and stuttered a little.

"Are you ok?" Ruby asked, putting a hand on his arm, nothing that he was shaking a little. "Do you need to lay down?"

"R-Ruby..." Connor stuttered, Ruby's hand on his arm only making matters worse. "I w-was wondering i-if you would l-like to go the the d-dance with me." He finally managed to say, through shaking and stuttering. He tried to calm himself down, breathing in and out.

Ruby looked at him, blushing a little, and said, "Ok."

After that, they both stared at each other for a little while, transfixed. This went on until Kane coughed loudly.

"Uhh..umm...I need to go speak to Doctor Brian about my recovery." Connor said. "I'll see you later, Rubes."

Ruby returned the goodbye and let go of Connors hand, letting him walk off down the corridor towards the infirmary. As he walked, he could've sworn he heard Ruby mutter excitedly, but be dismissed it as wishful thinking.

 **At this point, I'm pretty sure there's only two chapters of this volume left. Maybe I'll upload them both today...**


	15. Chapter 15- Revelations at the Dance

Outcasts and Outlaws

Chapter 15

Revelations at the Beacon Dance

 **Sorry for not posting at all yesterday, I ended up being way too busy to do so. Anyway, this is the second to last chapter of the first volume, I'll post the last one when I get home from work. Enjoy!**

Opening Music: https/youtu.be_x9zjk2MgVQ [RWBY OP 1]

(Music starts, shows Connor in a red shirt kneeling behind a tall figure in a green cloak in front of him) (Connor raises his hand, a depressed look in his eye) THEY SEE YOU AS SMALL AND HELPLESS! (The figure's green cloak flaps in the wind) THEY SEE YOU AS JUST A CHILD! (Dark clouds start to form in Connor's eye, it being zoomed in on until he evaporated into dark clouds) SURPRISE WHEN THEY FIND OUT THAT A WARRIOR WILL SOON RUN WILD! [OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS] PREPARE FOR YOUR GREATEST MOMENT! (Shows Ruby in a training room with her scythe) PREPARE FOR YOUR FINEST HOUR! (Shows Connor standing in a tree wearing a long black coat) THE DREAM THAT YOU'VE ALWAYS DREAMED (Shows Yang on her bike) IS SUDDENLY ABOUT TO FLOWER! (Shows a horde of Grimm advancing) WE ARE LIGHTNING! (Shows Damien with Brook standing on one side of him, a shadowy figure on the other) STRAYING FROM THE THUNDER! (Connor looks behind him as a Grimm drops down and charges, but slashes past it) MIRACLES OF ANCIENT WONDER! (Shows Connor, Yang and Ruby charge in) THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE WAITED FOR! (Shows Connor standing in front of Beacon looking apprehensive) THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE OPEN UP THE DOOR. (Connor starts to fall forward) I DON'T WANNA HEAR YOUR ABSOLUTION! (Ozpin catches him and pulls him back up, then Team JNPR come to stand with him) HOPE YOUR'E READY FOR A REVOLUTION! (Shows Ozpin walking away from Connor with his Kane over his shoulder) WELCOME TO A WORLD OF NEW SOLUTIONS! (Zooms in on Ozpin's eye as a gold gear spins around in it) WELCOME TO A WORLD OF BLOODY EVOLUTION! (Shows Ruby, then Yang, then Ozpin, then a shadowy figure) IN TIME, YOUR HEART WILL OPEN MINDS! (Connor steps through the shadowy figure and draws his arm blades) A STORY WILL BE TOLD! (He does an epic pose) AND VICTORY IS IN A SIMPLE SOUL! [END]

Connor stood in his room, looking at himself in the mirror in the door of his cupboard. It had been a week since he had asked Ruby to go to the dance with him, and the day had finally arrived. He had expected it to be awkward between the two, now that they were going to the dance together but aside from the occasional blush and smile, everything was the same as ever.

Connor didn't have any kind of suit for the dance, so he had decided to go in his cloak. He figured it would be formal enough, even if he did wear it everyday. He still had his eyepatch on over his scarred left eyeball, but he was considering taking it off. It was a formal occasion after all, and wondered if he would look better without it. In the end he decided to keep it on, for at lead some of the night, since Ruby had been the one who'd brought it for him.

He reached his hand down and fiddled with the silver bear pendant hanging around his neck. He also considered taking that off, as it wasn't very formal, but Nora would have his head if he did take it off.

As he was sorting out his cloak, Jaune and Ren came into his room through the door in tuxedos. Ren held some sort of clothing in a plastic bag.

"You're not going to wear that are you?" Ren asked, seeing Connor flashing his cloak in the mirror.

Connor looked at Ren, taking note that they both looked a hell of a lot better than he did, and replied, "I don't have a tux, so this'll have to do."

"You have one now." Ren quickly responded, holding up the plastic bag which Connor now saw contained a tuxedo for himself.

"Well this is going to be embarrassing." Kane sulked, as Connor reached out and took the tux.

A little while later, Connor was fully dressed in his tux and was standing outside the curtain covered entrance to the main hall with Ren and Jaune. Both Ren and Jaune looked surprisingly calm, perhaps even excited, about the night ahead. Connor on the other hand was sweating like a pig. He'd never felt so nervous in his life. He wondered what Ruby would be wearing and that made him even more nervous. Kane seemed startled by the attitude, since Connor was usually so confident in himself, but the thought of going to this dance with Ruby had him shaking in his boots.

"Why so scared?" Kane asked, concerned instead of looking for a teasing opportunity. "People have said things about you and Ruby before and you've shrugged it off."

Connor whimpered a little in response, unable to form any sort of intelligible response. Kane took this as a sign that he'd hit a nerve and pressed on, wanting to get to the bottom of this.

"You've never really been that interested in girls before." Kane commented, as Connor tried his best to stop shaking. "You flirted from time to time, with little success, but you were never serious about it."

Connor swallowed the lump in his throat and nervously responded, "I...guess I've changed."

"Damn right you have." Kane quipped, boiling Connors nerves a little more with each syllable. "You've been acting quite strangely around Ruby, in fact. What's that about?"

Connor was silent for a moment and then quietly told Kane, "Stop asking stupid questions. You know what's going on in my head better than even I do."

"Fine." Kane grunted in response, having grown tired of the charade anyway. "But whatever you do, don't go in there shaking like a pussy."

Connor cursed Kane mentally for the tease and then went back to trying to calm himself down, but he just couldn't. Seeing this, Ren and Jaune both put their hands on his shoulders to relax him. He slowly stopped shaking and calmed down, breathing in and out, then braced himself and entered the great hall.

The hall was alive with lights and music. A DJ booth was on on side of the room, while a small bar was set up on the other for those with more mature taste buds. Connor scanned the room, looking around for his date. Ren tapped him on the shoulder and pointed, drawing his attention to a pair of girls standing a little while in front of the bar.

The first girl was Yang, not that Connor really cared as she wasn't who he was looking for, but the girl with her was Ruby. She was wearing a beautiful red dress and her red hair was super glossy. She had put on a fair amount of makeup, enough to make her look good, and Connor thought she looked amazing. Had she really done all that just to look good for him?

He soon realised he'd been standing still for way too long, and in that time Ren and Jaune had gone off with Nora and Pyrhaa. Connor saw Yang leaving with Mercury, and steeled himself to greet Ruby. He strolled over casually, trying to look cool, but when he reached her he froze.

Ruby had seen him coming and greeted him while he stood frozen by fear. "Hey Connor." She said, her voice making Connor all the more nervous. "I was beginning to wonder when you'd get here."

Connor had trouble thinking of what to say, but Ruby's smile eventually warmed to him and calmed him down. How could he feel anything but happiness looking upon that smile? "Hey Rubes." He managed to nervously spit out. He then looked closer at her, nothing things about her he hadn't from a distance and stuttered, "You look...really nice." He then mentally frowned, disappointed in his choice of words, but Ruby wasn't. She blushed and muttered a thank you, then suggested they go and meet up with Ren, Jaune, and their dates.

Over the course of the next few hours, the group chatted and danced a little and then Connor said he was getting hot and needed a drink. He went up to the bar and asked for whatever they had. The barman served him a blue liquid in a shot glass that Connor had seen other people drinking through the night. He supposed one couldn't hurt, and downed it. He started to feel a little groggy after that. He'd never drink alcohol before, but he didn't think it's effects would kick in this quickly, had his drink been spiked?

Nevertheless, he was still hot and so ordered another. He drank it down just as quickly as the first and ordered a third. On the the other side of the room, Ruby was beginning to get concerned about where Connor had gone and she and Weiss went to the bar to see what was wrong.

"Connor?" Ruby asked when they reached him. "Are you ok?"

Connor was hunched over the bar. He'd only drunken three shot glasses, but he looked plastered. He looked up at Ruby and smiled goofily and then said, "Hey Rubes! I'm not feeling so good!" He tried to stand as he finished his sentence and fell off of the stool he had been sat on. Ruby caught him as he fell and supported him.

"He must have a really low intolerance." Weiss noted, seeing how drunk he was. "You should take him outside."

Ruby nodded and dragged Connor through the door on to the balcony, then let him sit down leaning against the wall and sat next to him. He stared up at the stance in a drunken trance and giggled, "Hahaha. Why are the stars so bright, Rubes?!" He cried. "Stop hurting my eyes, you assholes!"

Ruby looked at him smiling and then looked up at the stars himself. He was really drunk, someone must had spiked his drink or something. There was no way his intolerance was this bad. She stopped staring into the sky when she realised Connor was staring at her intensely.

(Insert music here for maximum feels: Clannad Soundtrack Track 5- Nagisa)

"Rubes."

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Ruby hadn't been sure if she'd heard him right and she didn't have a chance to confirm, because Connor then drunkly rested his head on her shoulder and fell asleep. Ruby stared at him emotionally, her jaw quivering, tears coming to the edge of her eyes.

"Ah, young love." Came a voice from the balcony. Ruby turned her head and noticed Ozpin standing there, strangely still with coffee in hand. How long had he been there?

"They say a drunk mans words are a sober mans thoughts, Miss Rose." He advised, taking a sip of his piping hot cuppa. Ruby looked back Connor, who was still snoozing on her shoulder. So she had heard right, and if Ozpin was telling the truth, he'd wanted to tell her for a while.

"That's why I spiked Connor's drinks this evening." Ozpin continued, shocking Ruby. He then looked to her and smiled, then explained, "It wasn't anything serious. I just increased the alcohol percentage a little."

"Why?" Ruby asked, confused as to his reasoning for doing such a thing to one of his students.

"Because, Miss Rose, I wanted to see the flower of love bloom." Ozpin replied poetically. "I always knew Connor was fond of you. He doesn't understand how fond I am of him. I wanted to help him along the way, give him a little push in the right direction."

(End Music Here)

Ozpin took another sip of his coffee and looked out onto the horizon. "What is that?" He wondered, seeing a black shape flying through the air.

As the shape grew closer Connor snapped open his eyes and lifted his head from Ruby's shoulder, not even realising it was there, as Kane woke him with a warning.

The flying creature was an enormous black dragon. It soared through the air with her wings and had shards of bone sticking out all around its body. It was headed straight for Beacon.

"A Neverdrake..." Ozpin muttered. "They're extremely rare." He then turned to Connor and Ruby ask told them, "You should come with me Miss Rose."

"What about Connor?!" She cried in response, holding on to his arm as he stared at the beast.

"I'll be just fine, get inside." He told Ruby without looking at her, his eyes pure black and filled with Kane's power. "Stay safe."

Ruby obeyed his orders, getting teary about his safety, and followed Ozpin inside. As the Neverdrake closed in, Connor muttered a few words of taunting.

"Come on then you big fat-"

He didn't finish his sentence however, because the Neverdrake hit him hard, sending him flying through the wall behind him. He flew across the hall and smashed into the wall at the back, leaving a massive crack. People screamed as they looked upon the Neverdrake climbing through the hole, into the hall. Even a hundred trained hunters and huntresses couldn't fight this thing. No one had ever killed an Everdrake.

Connors head spun from the force of the impact with the wall. When he regained normal sight, he saw the Everdrake and immediately called for Kane to give him strength.

"No point." Kane responded, refusing to give any power. "You're body is injured. Even with my power, you wouldn't be able to win. You'd die."

"So what the bloody hell do we do?!" Connor screamed out loud at Kane, not caring who heard.

"There's only one thing I can do. Only one thing that'll give me enough strength to kill it." Kane explained quickly. "I have to leave your body."

Connors world slowed down as he felt Kane ripping their consciousnesses apart without hesitation. To do so without a Kalos Crystal was extremely painful to them both and Connor was soon screaming in agony.

When the pain subsided, he looked up and saw Kane. He stood there, in all his glory, and faced the beast.

Connor didn't get to see that glorious moment though, because he passed out.

 **NEXT TIME IS THE FINAL CHAPTER OF VOLUME 1! GET READY FOR AN AWESOME EPILOGUE!**


	16. Chapter 16- Epilogue

Outcasts and Outlaws

Chapter 16

Epilogue

 **First of all, sorry for not posting for a few days. I've been really busy with working on my novel that I'm hoping to get published one day. Obviously I'm sinking a lot of my time into that but I've made a decision. I'm putting Through The Hoop on hold and I'm gonna alternate between working on this and my novel every other day, though I'll still try to post chapters every day until I'm caught up. Anyway, this one is the finale of the first volume. There may be some typos, as I'm rushing to get this up before people start wondering what's going on hahah.**

Opening Music: https/youtu.be_x9zjk2MgVQ [RWBY OP 1]

(Music starts, shows Connor in a red shirt kneeling behind a tall figure in a green cloak in front of him) (Connor raises his hand, a depressed look in his eye) THEY SEE YOU AS SMALL AND HELPLESS! (The figure's green cloak flaps in the wind) THEY SEE YOU AS JUST A CHILD! (Dark clouds start to form in Connor's eye, it being zoomed in on until he evaporated into dark clouds) SURPRISE WHEN THEY FIND OUT THAT A WARRIOR WILL SOON RUN WILD! [OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS] PREPARE FOR YOUR GREATEST MOMENT! (Shows Ruby in a training room with her scythe) PREPARE FOR YOUR FINEST HOUR! (Shows Connor standing in a tree wearing a long black coat) THE DREAM THAT YOU'VE ALWAYS DREAMED (Shows Yang on her bike) IS SUDDENLY ABOUT TO FLOWER! (Shows a horde of Grimm advancing) WE ARE LIGHTNING! (Shows Damien with Brook standing on one side of him, a shadowy figure on the other) STRAYING FROM THE THUNDER! (Connor looks behind him as a Grimm drops down and charges, but slashes past it) MIRACLES OF ANCIENT WONDER! (Shows Connor, Yang and Ruby charge in) THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE WAITED FOR! (Shows Connor standing in front of Beacon looking apprehensive) THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE OPEN UP THE DOOR. (Connor starts to fall forward) I DON'T WANNA HEAR YOUR ABSOLUTION! (Ozpin catches him and pulls him back up, then Team JNPR come to stand with him) HOPE YOUR'E READY FOR A REVOLUTION! (Shows Ozpin walking away from Connor with his Kane over his shoulder) WELCOME TO A WORLD OF NEW SOLUTIONS! (Zooms in on Ozpin's eye as a gold gear spins around in it) WELCOME TO A WORLD OF BLOODY EVOLUTION! (Shows Ruby, then Yang, then Ozpin, then a shadowy figure) IN TIME, YOUR HEART WILL OPEN MINDS! (Connor steps through the shadowy figure and draws his arm blades) A STORY WILL BE TOLD! (He does an epic pose) AND VICTORY IS IN A SIMPLE SOUL! [END]

Connor woke up in the same hospital bed he'd been in before. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he noticed that everyone was standing around his bed, watching.

"I'm glad to see you're awake." Doctor Brian greeted, stepping in front of everyone, clipboard in hand.

Connor looked around at everyone, feeling that something was off, someone was missing. He ignored the feeling as he was pretty sure everyone was present and asked, "What happened after I blacked out?"

Doctor Brian hummed, trying to recall the events of the evening. "Well, after Kane left your body he defeated the Neverdrake with no problem at all. Not surprising in the least." He accounted. "But then he took your cloak and scarpered."

Connor's eyes widened in disbelief as he felt for his cloak, and realised he was only wearing his tank top, not even his eyepatch. He left?" He repeated. "Did he say anything?"

"No, he just walked away." Doctor Brian informed Connor, not looking very happy. "I suppose he didn't see any reason to stay."

Connor sighed disappointedly. He didn't think Kane would just up and leave like that. He thought that maybe he would've waited until later and then said his goodbyes. Connor then took another look around the room and realised what, rather who, was missing.

"Where's Ruby?!" Connor questioned desperately, hoping she hadn't gotten hurt in the battle. Ozpin sighed emotionally and handed Connor a slip of paper with some writing on it. Connor read.

We've taken Ruby Rose and are holding her as a ransom. If you want to see her alive come to Warehouse 13 in Vale and trade her for Kane. Signed, The Outlaws.

Connor felt every muscle in his body tense up as he read those words. He was angry and scared for Ruby at the same time. If they had found this note, why was everybody still here?

Connor quickly jumped out of bed before anyone could stop him and made a mad dash for the exit. Jaune and Ren alone grabbed him before he could escape and held him back by his arms.

"Don't go!" Ren told him. "It's obviously a trap!"

The two struggled to keep a hold on Connor even without Kane's strength. He was more determined than he'd ever been in his life, two people wouldn't be enough to stop him. In a blink of the eye both Ren and Jaune were on the ground and Connor was out of the room, running for his Ruby's life.

As Ren and Jaune rose back up to take chase, Ozpin motioned them back. "Leave him." He ordered. "You won't be able to stop him."

Ren and Jaune regrettably decided to heed Ozpin's word and let Connor go on his own to save Ruby. After all, it was better that they didn't all fall into the trap.

"He doesn't remember what happened when he was drunk does he?" Doctor Brian thought out loud, wondering how much of Connor's memory of that night still remained.

"No." Ozpin answered, smiling. "But his feelings for Miss Rose remain the same as ever."

"Feelings?" Yang repeated, knowing that she had told Connor, "No funny business."

Ozpin sighed in regret and turned to Yang. He guessed now he would have to tell her the full story.

A little while later, Connor ran through the streets of Vale towards Warehouse 13, which he knew the location of thanks to the directions of a few confused strangers. "RUBY!" He screamed, hoping she would answer back, but she didn't, so he just kept running.

On top of roof of a nearby building, Kane stood and watched Connor racing through the streets in search of Ruby. He sighed as his black cloak flapped in the wind and his jet black hair ruffled in the breeze. He knew this would happen. Connor wouldn't abandon her. He supposed he no longer had a choice. It was time to face his enemies head on.

Connor soon found Warehouse 13 and entered. Seeing nothing but a plight of stairs going downwards, he descended, still screaming Ruby's name at the top of his voice.

"RUBY! RU-"

He stopped as he felt a presence behind him. Before he could do anything, he felt a sharp object stab in his one remaining eye and tear it out, spewing blood everywhere.

"I told you I'd take your eye." Said a voice he identified as Brook's, followed by a insane chuckle. "I don't lie."

Connor then felt Brook pushing him up, kicking and hitting and he went. Once he was standing, Brook poked his back with the tip of his hook, prompting him to move forward.

"Damn." Thought Connor.

After a little while of walking through the underground tunnel, Brook signalled with his hook for him to stop and then another voice said, "So you came? I didn't think you would, but Brook insisted it would work."

Connor figured out that the second voice must be Damien, even with his lack of eyesight, he knew that voice. He then paused as he heard a whimpering in the background, an unmistakable voice.

Ruby.

"Let her go you bas-" He once again was unable to finish his sentence, as Brook had smacked him in the back of the head with his hook for the insult, knocking to the floor as he coughed up blood. This causes Ruby to whimper a little more and Connor felt his muscles tense and his stomach growl, but he couldn't do anything without his sight.

"So, do you have Kane." Damien asked, getting straight to the point.

Connor was silent for a minute because he knew he'd failed. He knew he hadn't saved Ruby and he was torn up inside.

"No." He eventually responded.

"Very well." Damien sighed, sounding almost regretful. Connor knew, even without his sight, that Damien was about to kill Ruby.

Then out of nowhere a smash was heard. He heard Damien crying out shock and Brook yelling in pain. He heard a voice, a voice he'd heard so much he could never mistake it.

"Ruby, grab Connor!"

"Kane?! What the fu-" He started to ask before he felt someone, he assumed Ruby, grab his hand and pull him up and away from the sounds of a struggle. Soon he assumed they were outside, as he felt a cold breeze on his bare arms.

When they stopped, Ruby frantically cried, "Connor, your eye!" Whilst running around the edge of the wound with her fingers, cleaning up blood.

"Ruby, I-" Connor started to say, but was abruptly silenced by an explosion. He turned towards the source of the noise, not knowing what was happening and muttered, "Kane..."

He thought Kane had bit the dust. He couldn't believe it, but he didn't think even Kane could survive an explosion that sounded that big. He heard Ruby make a sound and asked her, "What is it?"

He then felt a hand on his shoulder, coming from in front of him. "Kane..?" He muttered, knowing that was who it was.

"Let's get you back to Beacon." Kane's voice said and so, they went, Connor again passing out along the way.

(Play Music Here: Clannad Track 5- Nagisa. If it ends whilst you are reading, click replay.)

Connor awoke in the same bed yet again. He was wearing a hospital gown this time, which he found strange as he'd always worn his own clothes in the infirmary. He realised he was sat up against a pillow and looking down on his lap, saw Ruby in a chair with her head in the bed, fast asleep. He also noticed Yang sitting in a chair a little way back, presumably there to comfort her sister.

He then came to a realisation. He could see! He wasn't blind! He raised his hands and felt both his eyes. His right was just an empty socket now, covered over with skin and his left was scarred still but functional once again. He wondered who had fixed it but then Ruby stirred.

As soon as she lifted up her head and saw Connor awake she smiled, and and embraced him in a loving kiss. The put his hands on his kiss and pushed her lips against his in a perfectly blissful moment before pulling away, her face a dreamy happiness. Yang seemed to be mad about this but didn't go go for Connor or pull Ruby away.

"Hey Rubes." He greeted sleepily as he tried to think of something to say. "Are you alright?"

She didn't answer verbally, she just looked and Connor with tears in her eyes and then hugged him, holding herself tightly to him. Connor looked to Yang for an explanation, and her eyes told him all he needed to know. At that moment, Ruby moved her head to the side of Connors and whispered something in his ear, then pulled away and looked him in the eye.

Connor sighed contently and looked her back in her eyes, then responded, "Me too."

Later that day, when Connor had left the infirmary, he stood in the corridor of Beacon waiting for Kane. He was still going to leave but it seemed that this time he at least wanted to say goodbye. As he waited Connor looked at the card he had received upon leaving the infirmary. It read: Get well soon, it was a tricky operation! It was signed by Doctor Brian.

Connor dropped the card out of surprise when he saw Kane walking down the hallway towards him. He didn't bother picking it up. When Kane stopped a little in front of him, Connor spoke first. "So you're leaving?"

"There's nothing for me here." Kane answered sounding somewhat upset. Perhaps he really wanted to stay? "Besides, I need to get this new body into shape."

Connor smiled at that. Even in the face of saying goodbye to someone he'd been with for eight years, Kane still found the time to have a little joke.

Kane then stuck out a hand, somewhat stiffly and waited for Connor to shake it. Holding back tears, Connor smacked the hand away and hugged Kane who didn't hug back out of shock.

After a minute of hugging, in which feelings that could not be described in words were conveyed, Kane stated, "I'm not much of a hugging person."

Connor let go of Kane, who then turned around and waved over his shoulder, then started to walk away down the corridor. As Connor watched him go, tears welled up in his eyes again and he yelled down the corridor. "Kane!"

Kane stopped and turned his head, looking towards Connor, who said, "You were like a brother to me. I didn't always like you, but you were always there and even though you were sometimes mean, you were kind when it mattered." By the time he had finished his monologging, Connors tears had begun to stream down his face from the emotion of saying goodbye to his lifelong companion.

Kane listened to it all and simply replied, "Same to you." Connor rose his head and looked right at Kane as he continued his way down the corridor. He didn't know if they'd ever see each other again, but he sincerely hoped that they did. He'd never have a friend like Kane again.

A little while later, Connor and Ruby stood next to each other on the balcony, looking out onto the forest, which had miraculously turned to a sea of cherry blossom trees. It could've been Kane's doing, and the thought of that made Connor smile.

"Will you be alright without Kane?" Ruby asked Connor as he continued to stare dreamily out into the forest of pink petals.

"I used to think I'd be nothing without Kane." Connor said. "I used to think that if he ever left me, I'd be useless on my own." He then looked at Ruby and added, "But I don't feel that way anymore. I don't need Kane because I've got friends who care about me and who would do anything to help me and, best of all, I've got you."

Connor remembered all their times together, the good and the bad. He remembered when they met, when he'd brought her an ice cream in the cafeteria. The time they had all pitched in and brought him his cloak. The time he had payed for Ruby's weapon magazine. He thought about when he had first fought Brook, and when Ruby had visited him in the hospital afterwards and listened to the story of his past. The times he spent with team JNPR, hanging out, becoming good friends. The time Ruby had bumped into him in the hall and forgiven him. His birthday party, the two battles in the plaza in Vale and the dance where he had seen Ruby looking so beautiful, and finally the kiss in the infirmary.

Ruby blushed and got teary eyed, then held Connors hand and leaned her head against his arm. They stood there in silence for a minute and then Connor yelled out towards the trees, "Come back soon, Kane!"

Ruby giggles heartily and asked, "Do you think he can hear you?" To which Connor happily answered, "He can always hear me."

Sure enough, Kane was standing in the branches of one of the cherry blossom trees, hidden in the pink. He watched Connor and Ruby for a while then promised them something.

"I promise I'll come back."

(Play Music: Clannad-To The Same Height and then Darren Chris Not Alone. Play them both fully even if you finish the credits)

Thank for reading.

Written by Oliver Clayden.

Inspiration from the Roosterteeth series RWBY.

Thanks for the support Dad, Sam and anyone else who ends up reading this.

Connor and Ruby will return in the next story...

 **And later today I will upload the first chapter of volume 2! It'll be classed as a different story, so please follow me if you want to know when it is posted or just keep an eye out! Also, one last thank you for all the views on this. It makes all the work worth it.**


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